<?xml version="1.0"?>
<law><site_title>Virginia Decoded</site_title><site_url>https://vacode.org</site_url><law_id>68410</law_id><section_number>64.2-1600</section_number><catch_line>Definitions</catch_line><edition url="https://vacode.org/2025/" slug="2025" current="TRUE" last_updated="">2025</edition><referred_to_by><reference>18.2-178.2</reference><reference>6.2-2040</reference><reference>6.2-619</reference><reference>64.2-1607</reference><reference>64.2-2000</reference><reference>64.2-2009</reference><reference>64.2-2019</reference><reference>64.2-2022</reference></referred_to_by><structure><unit label="title" level="1" order_by="1" identifier="64.2">Wills, Trusts, and Fiduciaries</unit><unit label="subtitle" level="2" order_by="1" identifier="IV">Fiduciaries and Guardians</unit><unit label="part" level="3" order_by="1" identifier="B">Powers of Attorney</unit><unit label="chapter" level="4" order_by="1" identifier="16">Uniform Power of Attorney Act</unit><unit label="article" level="5" order_by="1" identifier="1">General Provisions</unit></structure><text>
						<section><p>For the purposes of this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise:
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Agent</span>&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">person</span> granted authority to act for a <span class="dictionary">principal</span> under a <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span>, whether denominated an <span class="dictionary">agent</span>, <span class="dictionary">attorney-in-<span class="dictionary">fact</span></span>, or otherwise. The term includes an original <span class="dictionary">agent</span>, coagent, successor <span class="dictionary">agent</span>, and a <span class="dictionary">person</span> to which an <span class="dictionary">agent</span>&#x2019;s authority is delegated.
		&#x201C;Durable,&#x201D; with respect to a <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span>, means not terminated by the <span class="dictionary">principal</span>&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">incapacity</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Electronic</span>&#x201D; means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Good faith</span>&#x201D; means honesty in <span class="dictionary">fact</span>.
		&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Incapacity</span>&#x201D; means inability of an individual to manage <span class="dictionary">property</span> or business affairs because the individual:</p></section>
						<section id="1"><p><span class="prefix-number">1.</span> Has an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions even with the use of technological assistance; or <a id="paragraph-247708" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-1600/#1"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section>
						<section id="2"><p><span class="prefix-number">2.</span> Is missing or outside the United <span class="dictionary">States</span> and unable to return.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Person</span>&#x201D; means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Power of attorney</span>&#x201D; means a writing or other <span class="dictionary">record</span> that grants authority to an <span class="dictionary">agent</span> to act in the place of the <span class="dictionary">principal</span>, whether or not the term <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span> is used.
			&#x201C;Presently exercisable general power of appointment,&#x201D; with respect to <span class="dictionary">property</span> or a <span class="dictionary">property</span> interest subject to a power of appointment, means power exercisable at the time in question to vest absolute ownership in the <span class="dictionary">principal</span> individually, the <span class="dictionary">principal</span>&#x2019;s estate, the <span class="dictionary">principal</span>&#x2019;s <span class="dictionary">creditors</span>, or the <span class="dictionary">creditors</span> of the <span class="dictionary">principal</span>&#x2019;s estate. The term includes a power of appointment not exercisable until the occurrence of a specified event, the satisfaction of an ascertainable standard, or the passage of a specified period only after the occurrence of the specified event, the satisfaction of the ascertainable standard, or the passage of the specified period. The term does not include a power exercisable in a <span class="dictionary">fiduciary</span> capacity or only by <span class="dictionary">will</span>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Principal</span>&#x201D; means an individual who grants authority to an <span class="dictionary">agent</span> in a <span class="dictionary">power of attorney</span>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Property</span>&#x201D; means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, or legal or <span class="dictionary">equitable</span>, or any interest or right therein.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Record</span>&#x201D; means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an <span class="dictionary">electronic</span> or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
			&#x201C;Sign&#x201D; means, with present <span class="dictionary">intent</span> to authenticate or adopt a <span class="dictionary">record</span>: (i) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol or (ii) to attach to or logically associate with the <span class="dictionary">record</span> an <span class="dictionary">electronic</span> sound, symbol, or process.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">State</span>&#x201D; means a <span class="dictionary">state</span> of the United <span class="dictionary">States</span>, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United <span class="dictionary">States</span> Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular <span class="dictionary">possession</span> subject to the <span class="dictionary">jurisdiction</span> of the United <span class="dictionary">States</span>.
			&#x201C;<span class="dictionary">Stocks and bonds</span>&#x201D; means stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and all other types of securities and financial instruments, whether held directly, indirectly, or in any other manner. The term does not include commodity futures <span class="dictionary">contracts</span> and call or put options on stocks or stock indexes. <a id="paragraph-247709" class="section-permalink" href="https://vacode.org/64.2-1600/#2"><i class="fa fa-link"/></a></p></section></text><history>2010, cc. 455, 632, &#xA7; 26-73; 2012, c. 614.</history><metadata></metadata></law>
