A Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA) is a document that gives a designated person authority to take care of your child when you can’t. The person you give this permission to is called an attorney-in-fact.

A DOPA gives the designated person authority to make decisions about your child’s care, custody, and property. The designated person’s decisions on these matters have the same effect as if you made the decisions yourself. This means that someone with a DOPA can take your child to the doctor for medical treatment, and can excuse the child from school for illnesses, medical appointments, or other issues. But a DOPA does not provide the designated person authority to make decisions on matters such as adoption or marriage.

A DOPA does not take away any of your rights to make decisions for your child, and you can override any decisions made by the attorney-in-fact. You do need a separate DOPA for each child.

In Virginia, a Delegation of Parental Authority (DOPA) is a legal instrument that allows a parent to grant a designated individual, known as an attorney-in-fact, the authority to make certain decisions and take specific actions on behalf of their child when the parent is unable to do so. This may include making decisions about the child's education, health care, and general welfare. The attorney-in-fact's decisions are considered as valid as if the parent had made them. However, the scope of a DOPA does not extend to life-altering decisions such as consenting to the child's adoption or marriage. Importantly, executing a DOPA does not relinquish a parent's rights; the parent retains the ability to make decisions for their child and can revoke or override decisions made by the attorney-in-fact at any time. It's also necessary to create a separate DOPA for each child. Virginia law outlines specific requirements for the creation and execution of a DOPA to ensure its validity and enforceability.