Does Power of Attorney extend to voting in an election? Let's say that a citizen of the United States is in declining mental health and is not of sound mind or body to care for their own affairs, so the family sought Power of Attorney and received it. Let's also say that before an election and before deteriorating health, they had applied for an option to have a mail in ballot for the general election in November. If the individual with Power of Attorney receives the mail in ballot, would they be participating in a type of voter fraud by filling out the ballot on behalf of the person, then presenting the ballot to the person for their signature, assuming that person is capable of physically providing their signature, however incapable of mentally comprehending the voting decision? I know that the individual with Power of Attorney has the right to sign for legal documents on behalf of the person as they should be doing this with their best interest at heart, however is there an explicit exclusion for election ballots? If not then how could one account or check for election fraud?
No. Because these laws are controlled by the states, there could theoretically be 50 different answers, but every state I've looked at so far (Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Wisconsin) forbids using power of attorney to cast votes in a public election. In many states, a POA may not even request an absentee ballot for a voter. The general principle is that the POA can undertake any legal act the agent could undertake, except those &quot;so peculiarly personal that their performance cannot be delegated.&quot; States generally treat voting as peculiarly personal.
Yes. This is legal and it is done routinely. It is called executing a document in counterparts. To be clear, however, as the language of the question is ambiguous on this point, each signature would have to be contemporaneously notarized by the person notarizing that particular signature. In each case that a notarization took place outside the country where the Power of Attorney is to be utilized, normally, it would be necessary to also obtain an apostille for that notarization. An apostille is an official declaration of a designated official in the country of notarization that the notary of the signature in question was, in fact, a notary in good standing at the time that the notarization was done.
I can't speak for Latvian law, but it's not unusual for someone to be expelled from or denied entry to a political party in the UK for supporting a rival party at the same time. As one example, Alasdair Campbell was expelled from the Labour Party after he admitted voting for a rival party in elections. From that link, Labour Party rules say that someone &quot;who joins and/or supports a political organisation other than an official Labour group or other unit of the Party&quot; will &quot;automatically be ineligible to be or remain a Party member&quot;. So it's not about voting, which is secret, but about supporting a rival party. Similarly, at least one member has been expelled from Labour for supporting the Scottish National Party on social media. Such decisions may have an element of the political (using it as a pretext to getting rid of someone you don't like). But there is no suggestion that such an action is illegal, if it is in the party rules. Political parties have a lot of discretion as to who is allowed to be a member, and who they expel. It's not like buying a gym membership where you are entitled to gym services or your money back; legally you sign an agreement to follow the rules when you join, and joining doesn't entitle you to much.
Signing a will, as with any other document, is intended to represent a voluntary choice to assent to the document. In the case of a will, a valid signature by the testator expresses the testator's intent that his or her estate be governed by the provisions of the will. Signing using the hand of an unconscious testator (or an unwilling one) would be an act of forgery. It would certainly not create a valid will. In addition, since the witnesses generally certify that it was signed by the testator in their presence they would have committed an act of perjury. Whether either act als constituted fraud I am not sure, but these are clearly not legal acts. (There are cases where a will can be signed without witnesses, most commonly a holographic will, but they do not seem to apply here.)
The pardons would stand and continue to be valid. There is a minority view that the &quot;except in cases of impeachment&quot; language in the pardon clause of the U.S. Constitution deprives a President of the pardon power after impeachment until there is a U.S. Senate non-conviction. But the majority view is that this clause merely states that the loss of political office and prohibition on seeking future political office resulting from a U.S. Senate conviction in an impeachment trial cannot be removed via the pardon power. In the majority view, a President has all of the powers and authority of the office, including the pardon power, until the moment of a U.S. Senate conviction following a impeachment by the U.S. House (or the end of his term of office due to resignation or expiration of the President's term of office). Neither view, of course, has ever been resolved authoritatively in the courts because it has never come up before historically. Also, a group pardon would not absolve the President himself of criminal liability. The majority view (again never tested because no President has ever attempted to do so) is that a President may not pardon himself at all. But all other persons who benefit from the pardon would be relieved of criminal liability as a result.
Not in jurisdictions I am familiar with. A "Power of attorney" is a power to act as an attorney-in-fact, not to act as an attorney-at-law. A layperson practicing law for someone other than herself is usually the unauthorized practice of law and is illegal in most jurisdictions. It would be permissible if a jurisdiction carved out an exception for a particular kind of case, but they generally don't and are very unlikely to do so in a criminal case. For example, in Washington State "Limited Practice Officers" can assist people with one of a very limited set of civil legal forms that do not need modification. There may be some exceptions, but they would be more likely to occur before a matter becomes criminal. For example, the accountant who represents a taxpayer before the IRS, or the agent who files a form containing perjury to a federal agency like the post office or homeland security on your behalf. So it is very unlikely, but if it is important to you you can ask someone familiar with your kind of case in your jurisdiction.
That is, if my mom is sued by somebody for some reason, does that mean I am being sued, and my personal assets are at risk, rather than just hers'? Having power of attorney doesn't mean that you become "one and the same" person, it just means that you can stand in their place legally. If somebody sues your mother, you are authorized to act on your mother's behalf, but that doesn't mean that you are liable for any judgement. Of course there is a fiduciary responsibility to act in your mothers best interest, and violating that can open you up to suits that you are responsible for (because the suit would be against you, not your mother). And, what if she runs out of money, would I be personally financially liable for covering her expenses? No, you wouldn't be. Debts would be settled the same way as if she didn't have anybody acting as PoA. She (you) could declare bankruptcy on her behalf and have the debts discharged. This doesn't obligate you to pay them. And then, what if I simply don't have time to deal with her affairs, that is where I am being put in a position where I have to choose between keeping my job and my personal relationships at home versus going to deal with things over there, would having POA force me to do the latter? This is a personal decision for you. You could alternatively pursue having her declared as an "adult ward of the State". You need to consult a lawyer if you take on full power of attorney, to both protect you, your assets, and your responsibilities. This is something that you really need a lawyer to draft so that the lines are clear, and the expectations are as well. You may need to get a court involved if she is not of clear mind to sign these papers.
The first paragraph on the nature of the concern in the ICIG letter to McGuire clarifies what the alleged violation of the law is: Here, the Complainant's Letter alleged, among other things, that the President of the United States, in a telephone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on July 25, 2019, “sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid.” U.S. laws and regulations prohibit a foreign national, directly or indirectly, from making a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value, or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election. Similarly, U.S. laws and regulations prohibit a person from soliciting, accepting, or receiving such a contribution or donation from a foreign national, directly or indirectly, in connection with a Federal, State, or local election. Further, in the ICIG’s judgment, alleged conduct by a senior U.S. public official to seek foreign assistance to interfere in or influence a Federal election would constitute a “serious or flagrant problem [or] abuse” under 50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5)(G)(i), which would also potentially expose such a U.S. public official (or others acting in concert with the U.S. public official) to serious national security and counterintelligence risks with respect to foreign intelligence services aware of such alleged conduct. That is, it is alleged that it is a violation of federal election law for a foreign national to aid a US election (by providing information, which might be of value). The underlying statute is ambiguous. One reading is that the term refers to a deficiency relating to the funding, administration, or operation of an intelligence activity within the responsibility and authority of the Director of National Intelligence involving classified information and also A serious or flagrant problem, abuse, violation of law or Executive order The alternative is to take the entire list and limit the scope of the violations etc. to those within the responsibility and authority of the Director of National Intelligence involving classified information The interpretive canon known as the "last antecedent rule" favor the narrowest scope possible the immiidately above phrase. The law does not require a Supreme Court quality analysis of the underlying law: the proper interpretation of that statute is far from obvious, see here. Whether or not the last antecedent rule would be actually invoked in a final appeal is very hard to say, but generally the courts disfavor the supposition that any statute is ever written ambiguously (that still doesn't tell us what the scope of the last phrase is). The wording of the ICIG letter clearly indicates his interpretation of the scope of the DNI phrase, as not being limited to only intelligence activities within the responsibility and authority of the Director of National Intelligence involving classified information. However, the ICIG letter also notes that the Director of National Intelligence has responsibility and authority pursuant to federal law and Executive Orders to administer and operate programs and activities related to potential foreign interference in a United States election Additionally, Executive Order 13848, Imposing Certain Sanctions in the Event of Foreign Influence in a United States Election declares that the ability of persons ... outside the United States to interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections... constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States putting the combination of foreign + elections within the scope of the DNI. The ICIG letter also reasons that alleged conduct by a senior U.S. public official to seek foreign assistance to interfere in or influence a Federal election would constitute a “serious or flagrant problem [or] abuse” under 50 U.S.C. § 3033(k)(5)(G)(i), which would also potentially expose such a U.S. public official (or others acting in concert with the U.S. public official) to serious national security and counterintelligence risks with respect to foreign intelligence services aware of such alleged conduct.