Your situation
You have accepted the role and now need an orderly first-day plan.
What to check first
Confirm the POA is effective and covers the task.
Identify urgent bills, insurance, taxes, housing, and fraud risks.
List accounts, property, debts, recurring obligations, and key documents.
Common rule
An agent is a fiduciary and must act in the principal’s interest, manage carefully, keep assets separate, and maintain complete records.
What not to assume
Do not treat the principal’s money as family money.
Do not pay yourself or reimburse yourself without authority and records.
Do not change ownership or beneficiaries just because it seems convenient.
What you can do now
First 24 hours: verify authority and urgent risks.
First 7 days: inventory accounts, bills, insurance, and access.
First 30 days: establish recordkeeping, institution access, backup, and professional review where needed.
When professional help becomes important
Professional review is appropriate for unclear authority, taxes, real estate, gifts, conflicts of interest, beneficiary changes, or family disputes.
Jurisdiction matters
Au Québec, si l’autorité repose sur un mandat de protection, confirmez d’abord son homologation et les pouvoirs effectivement accordés avant de commencer à agir.
An Alberta attorney should first confirm when the enduring POA comes into effect and what financial authority the document actually grants.
Before acting under a BC enduring POA, confirm that it is effective, identify any restrictions, and establish the recordkeeping required by the Power of Attorney Act.
Ontario attorneys for property operate under the Substitute Decisions Act and should verify the document, scope, records and property-management duties before acting.
Pennsylvania agents must act within authority, in good faith and loyally for the principal, avoid impairing conflicts and generally keep funds separate subject to statutory exceptions.
New York imposes a prudent-person standard and fiduciary duties on an agent acting under POA, including record obligations.
Florida agents are fiduciaries and must act only within granted authority, in good faith and consistently with the principal’s best interest and known reasonable expectations, subject to statutory exceptions.
California requires the attorney-in-fact to keep records of all transactions and allows specified persons to demand or examine those records.
Washington RCW 11.125.140 requires an agent to act in good faith, within granted authority and consistently with the principal’s known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and recordkeeping duties.
Texas Estates Code § 751.101 treats an acting durable-POA agent as a fiduciary and requires informing and accounting for actions taken under the POA.
North Carolina agents must act according to known reasonable expectations or the principal’s best interest, in good faith, and only within granted authority.
Ohio agents must act within authority, in good faith and consistently with the principal’s expectations or best interest, while maintaining transaction records.
Michigan’s statutory form emphasizes good faith, scope limits, records, loyalty, care and an acknowledgment of duties for durable POAs before acting.
Illinois agents exercising authority must act in good faith for the principal, use due care, competence and diligence, and maintain required records.
Maryland agents owe duties of care, loyalty, scope compliance and recordkeeping under Estates and Trusts § 17-113.
Virginia agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, while keeping transaction records.
South Carolina agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and recordkeeping.
Minnesota attorneys-in-fact must keep complete transaction records, act prudently, and keep the principal’s interests foremost.
New Jersey attorneys-in-fact are fiduciaries, must act within delegated powers solely for the principal’s benefit, and must maintain accurate financial records.
Colorado agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to the principal’s known expectations or best interest, while keeping transaction records.
Utah agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to the principal’s known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and recordkeeping.
Nevada agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and transaction records.
Iowa agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to the principal’s expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and transaction records.
Hawaii agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and transaction records.
Delaware agents owe duties of good faith, scope compliance, loyalty, care, communication and recordkeeping.
Connecticut agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to the principal’s expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and records.
Nebraska agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and records.
Unless the document provides otherwise, an Oregon agent must use the principal’s property for the principal’s benefit.
Wyoming agents are subject to the duties in § 3-9-114, including good faith, scope limits, loyalty, care and recordkeeping.
Maine agents must act within authority, in good faith and as fiduciaries, with loyalty, care and transaction records.
Kentucky agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and records.
New Mexico agents are subject to statutory duties under § 45-5B-114 and should maintain records supporting each transaction.
Vermont agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to the principal’s expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and transaction records.
West Virginia agents owe fiduciary duties and recordkeeping obligations under § 39B-1-114.
South Dakota agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, while keeping accurate contemporaneous records.
Missouri attorneys-in-fact must act under the document and principal instructions, in the principal’s best interest, and remain accountable for records and property.
Kansas attorneys-in-fact owe fiduciary duties, must avoid impairing conflicts, keep transaction records and separate principal assets under K.S.A. 58-656.
Alaska agents must act within authority, in good faith and according to known expectations or best interest, with loyalty, care and transaction records under AS 13.26.610.
Alabama agents must follow the principal’s known expectations or best interest, act in good faith, remain within scope, and comply with loyalty, care and recordkeeping duties under § 26-1A-114.
A Louisiana mandatary must follow the mandate and owes performance, care, information, delivery and accounting duties under the Civil Code.
An Indiana agent should verify exact granted authority, preserve records and follow duties under IC 30-5 before acting.
Georgia agents owe statutory duties under Chapter 10-6B and should keep records supporting their actions.
Arkansas agents are subject to statutory fiduciary duties and recordkeeping under the UPOAA.
Wisconsin § 244.14 requires good faith, scope compliance, loyalty, care and records from an agent.
Rhode Island’s statutory short form includes record/report authority, but Parent Ready should not present chapter 18-16 alone as a complete modern fiduciary-duty code.
Montana agents are subject to statutory duties under § 72-31-319 and should preserve transaction records.
New Hampshire agents owe statutory duties under RSA 564-E:114 and should maintain records supporting actions.
Tennessee § 34-6-107 makes an attorney in fact a fiduciary to the extent the agent undertakes to act and imposes a duty to adequately account.
Oklahoma’s statutory-form act expressly assigns fiduciary/legal responsibilities to an accepting agent and requires appropriate transaction records, but full fiduciary remedies remain under review.
Idaho agents are subject to UPOAA fiduciary and recordkeeping duties; the exact document remains controlling within statutory limits.