An attorney-in-fact is someone who has been appointed by someone, usually by a power-of-attorney, to act in their stead and sign legal documents for them. Sometimes the power-of-attorney may be a limited one in which only a certain act or type of act can be performed.
This differs from an attorney-at-law. An attorney-at-law is a practicing attorney authorized to represent a person in legal matters.
An attorney-in-fact is often someone trusted by the person appointing them and is not necessarily a practicing attorney.
2 Responses
And it depends on the location and the laws applicable at that time and at that location as to what someone appointed to represent the person can do.
One should always refer to contemporary statutes in situations like these. Some powers-of-attorney are also very specific and limited as well.