A power of attorney vehicle registration allows you to have your motor vehicle appropriately registered when you are unable to complete the transaction on your own. Different states have different procedures for this, but in many cases granting a power of attorney for the sole purpose of vehicle registration only requires having the vehicle owner and the person to be granted power of attorney sign a special form. To complete vehicle registration documents with a power of attorney, the person signs them in the format of "John Doe by Jill Smith"--in which John Doe is the owner of the vehicle and Jill Smith is the person named as representative on the power of attorney.

In The Military

Military men and women who are stationed away from home for extended periods of time, either within the country or overseas, are in need of power of attorney vehicle registration. They have cars that will be sitting for long periods or used by others while they are gone. The registration will need to be taken care of while they are away and the power of attorney gives the selected person the ability to do so. Along the same lines, if a soldier has a car in the United States and has decided during his long deployment to sell the car, the person with his power of attorney can do that for him. Without the power of attorney documents in order, the solider would have to wait to get back to sign over the car if it was to be sold.

Working Overseas

Residents working overseas for extended periods of time, such as those who work as consultants for foreign offices of a company in the United States, also have a need for power of attorney vehicle registration services. Frequent travelers, depending upon their schedules, may find this service useful if they anticipate the need to register a vehicle while they are away from home.

If needed, you can have a lawyer prepare documents to have a power of attorney that gives someone the authority to make decisions regarding vehicle registration, as well as finances, medical care, and other important issues for an elderly or disabled individual.  An ordinary power of attorney can only be used while the principle person is still able to make their own decisions. If the principle was to be incapacitated and could not make decisions for themselves or had passed away, the power of attorney would cease. However, if you have a durable power of attorney, as long as it was signed by the principle while still in good mental health, and something happened where the principle was incapacitated, then the power of attorney would still hold true.