72-31-302. Definitions. As used in this part, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Agent" means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney, whether denominated an agent, attorney-in-fact, or otherwise. The term includes an original agent, coagent, successor agent, and a person to which an agent's authority is delegated.
(2) "Durable", with respect to a power of attorney, means not terminated by the principal's incapacity.
(3) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(4) "Good faith" means honesty in fact.
(5) "Incapacity" means inability of an individual to manage property or business affairs because the individual:
(a) has an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions even with the use of technological assistance; or
(b) is:
(i) missing; or
(ii) outside the United States and unable to return.
(6) "Person" 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.
(7) "Power of attorney" means a writing or other record that grants authority to an agent to act in the place of the principal, whether or not the term power of attorney is used.
(8) (a) "Presently exercisable general power of appointment", with respect to property or a property interest subject to a power of appointment, means power exercisable at the time in question to vest absolute ownership in the principal individually, the principal's estate, the principal's creditors, or the creditors of the principal'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.
(b) The term does not include a power exercisable in a fiduciary capacity or only by will.
(9) "Principal" means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney.
(10) "Property" means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, or legal or equitable, or any interest or right therein.
(11) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(12) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(a) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(b) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol, or process.
(13) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.
(14) "Stocks and bonds" 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 contracts and call or put options on stocks or stock indexes.
History: En. Sec. 2, Ch. 109, L. 2011.
Structure Montana Code Annotated
Title 72. Estates, Trusts, and Fiduciary Relationships
Chapter 31. Miscellaneous Provisions Relating to Fiduciaries
Part 3. Uniform Power of Attorney Act
72-31-304. Power of attorney is durable
72-31-305. Execution of power of attorney
72-31-306. Validity of power of attorney
72-31-307. Meaning and effect of power of attorney
72-31-308. Nomination of conservator or guardian -- relation of agent to court-appointed fiduciary
72-31-309. When power of attorney effective
72-31-310. Termination of power of attorney or agent's authority
72-31-311. through 72-31-315 reserved
72-31-316. Coagents or successor agents
72-31-317. Reimbursement and compensation of agent
72-31-320. Exoneration of agent
72-31-323. Agent's resignation -- notice
72-31-324. Acceptance of and reliance upon acknowledged power of attorney
72-31-325. Liability for refusal to accept acknowledged power of attorney
72-31-326. Principles of law and equity
72-31-327. Laws applicable to financial institutions and entities
72-31-328. Remedies under other law
72-31-329. through 72-31-335 reserved
72-31-336. Authority that requires specific grant -- grant of general authority
72-31-337. Incorporation of authority
72-31-338. Construction of authority generally
72-31-340. Tangible personal property
72-31-342. Commodities and options
72-31-343. Banks and other financial institutions
72-31-344. Operation of entity or business
72-31-345. Insurance and annuities
72-31-346. Estates, trusts, and other beneficial interests
72-31-347. Claims and litigation
72-31-348. Personal and family maintenance
72-31-349. Benefits from governmental programs or civil or military service
72-31-353. Statutory form power of attorney
72-31-354. Agent's certification
72-31-355. through 72-31-364 reserved
72-31-365. Uniformity of application and construction
72-31-366. Relation to Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act