Consider the following: You just moved from Texas to North Carolina. While you were in Texas you appointed your brother as your Power of Attorney. Your brother still lives in Texas. You have not named an alternate.

North Carolina law does not prohibit someone out-of-state from serving as your Power of Attorney. However, in this scenario you would want to ask yourself a couple of key questions:  In case of emergency, will your brother be able to serve? Will he have the resources or ability to get to North Carolina if he is needed? If the answer to either of these is no, you may need to see an attorney who can update your Power of Attorney and appoint someone who is more available to serve when called.

Even if you can answer yes to all of those questions, you may consider adding a local alternate Power of Attorney. North Carolina statutes provide for the ability to appoint someone who would be able to serve if your primary Power of Attorney is unavailable. In the above scenario, this would be someone who could act in place of your brother until he was able to serve.

However, an alternate is not required and if your Power of Attorney is readily available or if they moved with you, your documents may still be fine. Either way, having your documents reviewed by an attorney will save you time and anxiety later on when those documents are really needed.