Create a Financial Power of Attorney Document
ETF cannot help you complete a financial power of attorney document. Talk with your attorney about establishing a financial power of attorney document or use a do-it-yourself resource:
- Wisconsin Statutory Power of Attorney for Finances and Property form from the Department of Health Services
- Do-It-Yourself Consumer Packet: POA for Finances and Property from the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc.
ETF will review your financial power of attorney document to ensure it meets legal and WRS requirements. If you live in a state other than Wisconsin, ETF will determine if it meets that state’s requirements.
Submit Your Document to ETF
A power of attorney document must be:
- A financial power of attorney document.
- Note: ETF cannot accept a power of attorney for health care document.
- Durable.
- Durable means that the financial power of attorney stays in effect even if you become temporarily or permanently incapacitated. Any financial power of attorney document signed in Wisconsin after September 1, 2010, is durable unless it specifies otherwise.
A power of attorney document may be rejected if:
- The document is not durable.
- It is a power of attorney for health care.
- Pages are missing or unreadable.
- It was not executed correctly under the applicable law.
- The member it is intended for is deceased.
- It is not signed and dated.
- There are annotations outside of the standard document.
What to Submit
Submit your financial power of attorney document. On the document or a separate page submitted at the same time, provide your name, date of birth, and if possible, your ETF ID.
No additional forms are required.
How to Submit
Submit your document to ETF using one of the following methods:
- Mail, fax, or drop box
- Online with Box
- The link above will take you to the Box website, which is a secure and confidential way to send your document to ETF. You don’t need an account with Box to submit your document. Basic contact information is required in case the document is not readable.
- After you submit, you'll see "Success! Your file has been submitted."
- It will take a few days to be uploaded into your records, at which point ETF staff will be able to view your document. If you have any questions, please contact ETF.
Timeline
It may take a couple of weeks for your financial power of attorney document to be processed and initially reviewed by ETF. This timeline may increase if you are submitting a financial power of attorney document from a state other than Wisconsin.
We encourage you to file your financial power of attorney document with ETF as soon as possible. Your agent cannot take any action permitted by the financial power of attorney document until it is approved by ETF. If your document is not submitted to ETF in a timely manner, your agent may not be able to make any decisions on your behalf when you are unable to act for yourself.
Revoke Your Financial Power of Attorney Document
Send ETF a signed and dated document expressing your intent to revoke your financial power of attorney document.
For more information, review the Revoking a Power of Attorney for Finances handout from the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources, Inc.
Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Program (WDC) Participants
You may also authorize your agent to make changes to your WDC account by submitting your financial power of attorney document to the WDC’s record keeper. Contact the WDC for more information.