Can Power of Attorney Be Issued to a Company?

A power of attorney gives explicit authorization to someone else to make decisions, gather paperwork or file documents in your absence. While it's common to issue such a document to an individual, such as an attorney or spouse, your business might also need to authorize someone to act in its stead, and this practice is legal.

You can issue a power of attorney to any entity of your choosing, including another business. You might do this, for example, when your business hires a law firm or accounting business and you need to authorize the organization to file documents or gather paperwork on your behalf. Before you sign a power of attorney, you should feel confident that you can trust the business -- and you should consider carefully what powers the POA should and should not grant, depending on your needs.

When you draft such a power of attorney, it will indicate that your business authorizes the other business to act in its stead. Sign the document as an authorized representative of your business, and ensure the document is issued to the company, and not the company's trade name or a specific representative of the company. If you only want certain individuals within the company to have access to your information, clearly list which individuals or positions have this authorization.

You'll need to choose the right type of power of attorney for your needs. A general power of attorney gives a company broad power to act in your stead in almost every circumstance, and it should generally have an expiration date. You might use such a document if you are leaving town and allowing a company to do business for you until you return. A limited power of attorney gives specific, itemized responsibilities and does not authorize additional actions.

Most powers of attorney have a set expiration date, but if you need to revoke the document, you should notify the company in writing. It's also a good idea to notify any other entities with whom the company has dealt on your behalf. For example, if your business authorized a company to contact the Internal Revenue Service on your behalf, notify the IRS that such authorization is explicitly revoked. Then draft a revocation of the power of attorney and sign and date it. The revocation should contain information about the company and should be forwarded to the company itself.