Why Create Powers of Attorney Documents

Why should a person create a power of attorney? 

The failure of an individual to create powers of attorney documents can render them helpless if and when they lose their ability to make decisions for themselves. In such cases, courts may appoint others to take control of the incapacitated individual's life, and the selected parties may not be who the affected individual wants in charge of their affairs. An Estate Planning Attorney can give a concerned individual more information about how to include powers of attorney in their estate plans.

What Are Powers of Attorney?

Power of Attorneys are the estate planning devices that individuals can use to give others the rights to take control of their affairs. When a person becomes incapacitated powers of attorney documents kick in and allow others to make health care decisions, financial choices, and take other action on their behalf. A power of attorney is in effect only as long as the principal is alive and it can only be enacted by a principal who is mentally competent. 

What Can A Power Of Attorney Do?

The Three Main Rolls of a Power of Attorney

• Making medical decisions on behalf of the principal
• Handling financial and legal matters on behalf of the principal
• Making decisions on behalf of someone who has lost their mental capacity

A power of attorney, while still a critical tool for managing the estate and affairs of incapacitated loved ones, has also evolved into a useful mechanism that allows individuals to grant authority to professionals with specialized skills, who can represent them in business, real estate, legal, and financial arenas that require specific knowledge the individual might not have. This allows people to level the playing field when it comes to dealing with larger institutions that have paid professional staff dedicated to acting on their behalf.

Most individuals don't like to think about it as something that may happen before they reach old age. The sense that death is something that only afflicts the elderly is a falsity, and young individuals may hurt their wealth if they do not make plans for how such assets will be managed when they are no longer able to do so on their own.

The best plan is to be pro-active.  Make it a priority to contact an attorney to help you with your future.  This could be a matter of doing it your way or having someone else make decisions for you.  

If you need help finding an attorney, please call me.  I have several I have worked with that I trust with my family matters.  Contact me at 970-672-6069 or margaret@turnkeyrealtyco.com