Now that you have your will in place for disposition of your property after death and medical power of attorney in place that allows a surrogate to make healthcare decisions for you if you become incapacitated, who will take care of your financial and business transactions if you ever become incapacitated? That’s where a durable power of attorney comes in.
What is a durable power of attorney?
A durable power of attorney is a powerful instrument, which allows you, while you are healthy and thinking clearly, to designate a trustworthy person of your choice (an agent) to make various financial decisions on your behalf. A standard power of attorney allows your agent to make those decisions now, but if you were to become incapacitated, the agent’s powers would stop. The advantage of the durable power of attorney is that if you ever become incapacitated, your agent can continue to make those decisions on your behalf even after you become incapacitated.
Examples of financial matters for which you can designate an agent to act on your behalf include, but are not limited to, real and tangible personal property transactions, stock and bond transactions, banking and other financial institution transactions, business operating transactions, insurance and annuity transactions and tax matters. There are many other transactions for which you can designate an agent. You may choose to give your agent the authority only for specific transactions or for all transactions. You also may decide to allow the durable power of attorney to become effective as soon as you sign it, or make it become effective only if and when you become incapacitated. There are nuances to those choices that require competent legal counsel.
At Latifi Law, PLLC, our attorneys can explain the advantages and disadvantages of the various options and draft a durable power of attorney for you, after a thorough discussion of individual needs and after addressing your concerns and questions.
Does estate planning sound too daunting? Let us help you! Contact us at [email protected] to get started.