You make out a durable power of attorney to allow someone to step into your shoes if you are out of commission and do things for you such as paying your bills and handling your affairs (even using and reloading your Starbucks Card) and maybe making health care decisions for you. If you don’t have a valid durable power of attorney (and one this is accepted by others), then you may get dragged through a guardianship proceeding to have someone appointed to be your guardian – no fun at all.
Powers of attorney become stale with age and need have new batteries and maybe even some updated language. If your power of attorney is more than 5-10 years old, have it reviewed and updated.
Who have you appointed as your agent? Think about whether they are still appropriate. Will they wipe out your bank account and head out to Mexico (or South Tacoma)? Will they know what to do? Who is the back-up to your back-up?
Think about it.