As of Sept. 1, New York has abolished its old easy single-sheet statutory power of attorney form (POA) and replaced it with a tremendously complicated new law1 describing a highly complex new document with a misleadingly named optional rider.2
The 1948 original form and its successors were designed to be general-purpose forms consumers with nothing but access to a stationery store and a notary could use with ease. The new form, designed specifically for estate planning, is so complicated that those who use it without attorney guidance do so at their peril and few attorneys will fully understand the pitfalls the new form presents. Attorneys working with them do so at their peril as well.
