What is a durable power of attorney?

A durable power of attorney is a power of attorney that's effective even if the principal is disabled. The reason that's necessary is it historically powers of attorney were only effective if the principal could supervise their attorney in fact. A durable power of attorney is effective even if the principal cannot supervise the attorney in fact. that way it's very helpful to avoid guardianships. It's helpful to avoid having to have the principal adjudicated incompetent and it's a very powerful tool for estate planning and elder law purposes.