Managing Life On Tour: The Importance of Power of Attorney
A couple of months back, while doing a project on preparing for the worse (yes, sounds a bit grim), I talked about how essential a power of attorney is. Basically, this document enables someone else to manage your affairs and make decisions on your behalf.
There are two types of power of attorney. The one we focused on before is the durable kind, which remains valid even if you become incapacitated, physically or mentally.
Now, for those of you who are performers or technicians on tour, ever wondered what you’d do with your bills and any potential legal issues cropping up while you’re away? Well, I used to. Being on tour meant I was often in some far-flung place for months with my address changing all the time – it was too complicated to keep track of, so my mail still went to my parents’ place.
During my tours, I had to deal with several issues, like:
– Getting little checks for refunds, dividends, or final payments from previous jobs, which I wanted deposited promptly, considering some of them would expire after 90 days.
– Handling traffic tickets sent by mail when I allegedly ran red lights.
– Dealing with my taxes.
– And the worse of the lot, resolving a credit card fraud issue while touring Europe, handling it city by city with the help of short-lived, expensive phone cards.
Looking back, if I had been savvier, I would’ve given my mom the power of attorney. That way, we could’ve managed everything more efficiently (and legally). It wouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes to fill out a free form, get it notarized at a bank, and declare her my attorney-in-fact (that’s the title for the appointed person).
Luckily, I trust my family entirely. I’d have no problem giving any one of them the power of attorney to handle my affairs while I’m traveling. That said, your attorney-in-fact doesn’t have to be a relative. It could be a trustworthy friend, partner, or even a long-time neighbor, anyone whom you’d trust with your financials and decision-making regarding them.
But remember, if you suspect your chosen attorney-in-fact might get up to something underhand with your power of attorney – don’t choose that person. Also, this type of power of attorney is not durable, meaning if anything happens that incapacitates you, the current power of attorney becomes void.
Another handy tip is to set an end date in your power of attorney paperwork. This can coincide with the length of your tour or your time away.
But how do you go about filling out power of attorney paperwork? There are resources like The Law Depot that offer basic, charge-free legal forms. It’s straightforward – just follow the prompts, fill in your information, and print it out. If your form needs notarizing or further info, the platform will notify you.
Anyone of you have experience using a power of attorney?
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Handling finances on tour can be a challenge; power of attorney could be the solution for stage managers, performers, technicians. Ever wondered what happens to your bills on tour? Share this post and let’s get chatting!