Final answer:
The term for an individual who authorizes someone else to act on their behalf is 'principal'. This legal relationship is key in the law of agency where the principal gives an agent the power to make decisions that can affect the principal's legal standing.
Step-by-step explanation:
The individual who authorizes another person to act on his or her behalf is known as the principal. This concept is fundamental in the law of agency, where the principal delegates the power to a representative, sometimes called an agent, to perform actions or make decisions affecting the principal's legal rights and obligations. In various legal scenarios, such as signing contracts, the agent exercises authority to act for the principal, who retains ultimate responsibility for the agent's actions. Parents, for example, can act as authorized representatives for their children, reflecting the parent's role as a principal in this context, since children cannot legally provide consent for themselves.