How many designees on a durable power of attorney?

How many people do I authorize to make decisions for me on my:

• Durable Power of Attorney for Health?
• Durable Power of Attorney for Finance?
• Mexican federal end-of-life documents?

And, where should these people be located?

Durable POAs come from your country of origin or possibly from Jalisco, or from another Mexican state.  And, the Mexican federal end-of-life document, which offers the equivalent of a durable power of attorney, comes from the Mexican federal government.  

Each allows you to designate who you want to act on your behalf when you cannot do so in any manner.  

The person(s) you designate does not need to be in any specific location.

For example, you can have a durable POA from Minnesota and all of your designees can be located there, or None of them located there, or located in a Mix of places,  especially if you are living Full-Time In Mexico. 

If you are in Mexico half or full-time, in an emergency for a stroke, auto accident or a variety of other things, someone may need to act on your behalf immediately or within 24 hours to make a medical decision or pay for an ambulance, etc.  

The question to ask yourself is, “if all of my designees are north, is it realistic that any one of them could be here in Mexico within 2 to 24 hours?”  ”And, if they could, how long could they stay in such a situation?”

The answer to these questions is usually that it would take 2 or 3 days for someone to get lakeside and, because of their own lives north, they could only stay a limited number of days without making substantial arrangements.

Therefore, it is a good idea to have one or two of your designees up north, and at least 2 or 3 lakeside.

I’ve been asked several times Why?? have so many people on any durable power of attorney or serve as a designee?

Emergencies or life situations come in their own time; not on your schedule or someone else’s schedule.  So, why pick 5 (trusted persons)?

• One or two persons are north and can’t arrive in a timely manner, even if they are available;
• One or two persons lakeside who had agreed to help can no longer do so because they are sick themselves or no longer physically or mentally capable;
• One or two persons lakeside who had agreed to help have returned to live north or somewhere away from lakeside;
• One or two persons are traveling;
• One or two persons lakeside who had agreed and were ‘trusted friends’ are no longer ‘trusted friends.’

Durable POAs take some time, effort and cost to get into place, especially if they are apostilled and translated.  As a result, ideally, you don’t want to change them often.   So choose carefully trusted persons who can act on your behalf and choose a sufficient number so that someone may actually be available when You Need It and Life Happens.