Be Ready For Any Contingency With Powers Of Attorney
“What will happen to my bank account, home, and business if I am alive, yet unable to handle my own affairs?”
“Who will protect my assets and take care of communications with medical professionals if I am in a coma?”
“How can my home sale or purchase be completed while I am deployed overseas for military service?”
Powers of attorney are legal tools that allow an individual or couple to create their own answers to such questions in advance of any emergency or limiting circumstances. A power of attorney has many applicable purposes beyond health constraints, such as in extreme situations like incarceration or kidnapping, or in temporary situations such as when a person is on a cruise and unable to take care of business at home.
More commonly, powers of attorney allow close family members or trusted friends to make decisions and manage resources in place of the person who may become unavailable for medical or other reasons. Typical powers of attorney include:
- Powers of attorney for health care, designating decision-makers for health care
- Powers of attorney for finances, naming representatives who will be able to make and break contracts, gain access to accounts, and otherwise handle otherwise private assets
A power of attorney is a legal document that may be:
- General, for use anytime once it is formalized
- Limited, just for specific purposes like the purchase of a piece of real estate
- Durable, to be activated when a person is incapacitated and remain in effect unless the person is then able to, and chooses to, revoke it
- Springing, to be activated only in case of specific circumstances such as incapacity
Taken together, powers of attorney, a will, one or more trusts for various purposes and advance health care directives (living wills) can facilitate smooth management of personal and financial matters under a wide range of circumstances before and after death. For many people, these estate planning tools can be worth their weight in gold when the time comes to put them into use. Accomplishing the same objectives without powers of attorney can be costly, difficult, or even impossible.
Our Estate Planning Law Firm Is Here To Customize Solutions
We want to hear about what is most important to you for personalized estate planning. Discuss your priorities with an empathetic estate planning lawyer at Bogutz & Gordon, PC, by calling 520-900-5825 or sending an email inquiry through this website.