The U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in June 2012 in NFIB v. Sebelius, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), aka Obamacare, case. It is a case for the ages, but it’s also a case that provides a platform for examining how the Court decides matters.

First, courts at all levels value stare decisis, Latin for “stand by the decision.” Underlying stare decisis is the notion that we are a nation of laws; thus, legal principles, once decided, should be applied consistently going forward, without regard for politics, the identity of the parties, etc. Further, we need and expect predictability from the law, for we want to know with a reasonable degree of certainty what is

A Financial Power of Attorney (POA) is a legal documents that give someone else–your attorney-in-fact–the power to act for you. (A Health Care Power of Attorney is different; stay tuned!) POAs seem simple, but while they are not especially complicated tools, they’re more than a “sign here” form.

Option 1:  Is your POA durable? A durable POA lets your attorney-in-fact act even if you suffer from a lack of mental capacity. The law defaults to “the power ends if the principal lacks mental capacity,” so if you are giving someone a POA so he or she can act if you have a stroke, dementia, etc., you’ll most likely want it to be durable.

Option 2:  Does your POA