Mississippi

IMPORTANT INFORMATION As the "principal," you are using this Power of Attorney to grant authority to another person (your "agent") to make decisions concerning your money and property for you. Your agent will be able to make decisions and act with respect to your property (including your money) whether or not you are able to act for yourself, unless you elect a springing trigger in the Effective Date article below. Mississippi has NOT enacted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. This document is governed by Mississippi's Uniform Durable Power of Attorney Act at Miss. Code §87-3-101 et seq. and by the specific recording and acknowledgment requirements set out in Miss. Code §§89-3-1 and 89-5-3 (recording instruments affecting real estate with the chancery clerk of the proper county). Under Miss. Code §87-3-105, durability is NOT presumed; this document must include explicit durable language for the authority to survive the principal's later incapacity. The "hot powers" structure used below is contractual: it limits your agent's authority unless you affirmatively grant the listed powers, and it does not depend on a Mississippi adoption of the uniform act. This Power of Attorney does not authorize the agent to make health care decisions for you, including decisions to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Health care decisions are governed by your separate Mississippi Advance Health Care Directive under Miss. Code §41-41-201 et seq. You should select someone you trust to serve as your agent. Your agent must act in accordance with your reasonable expectations to the extent actually known by the agent and, otherwise, in your best interest, and must act in good faith and only within the scope of authority you grant in this document. Your agent must keep records, not commingle your property with the agent's own property, and act loyally and impartially toward all your beneficiaries. Your agent's authority continues even after you become incapacitated, unless you have limited durability above. Your agent's authority terminates at your death. Unless you have expressly granted your agent authority to do so by initialing the "Express Authorization of Exceptions" section, your agent CANNOT (a) make a gift of your property, (b) create, amend, or revoke a trust, (c) change the beneficiary designation on any account, retirement plan, or insurance policy, (d) waive your right of survivorship in any joint account, (e) create or change rights of survivorship in property, (f) delegate authority granted under this Power of Attorney, or (g) exercise fiduciary powers you hold for another. These contractual "hot power" limits parallel the express-authorization rule used in states that have enacted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. If you have questions about the powers granted by this document, or about your rights and obligations as the principal, you should consult a Mississippi-licensed attorney before signing. Mississippi recording statutes (Miss. Code §§89-3-1 and 89-5-3) require this Power of Attorney to be acknowledged before a notary public and lodged with the chancery clerk of the proper county if the agent will be authorized to convey, mortgage, or otherwise affect the title to any Mississippi real estate; you should therefore sign and date this document before a notary public so the agent can record it as needed. By signing the acknowledgment below, I, the principal, acknowledge that I have read this notice and understand the powers granted to my agent under this Mississippi Power of Attorney.