Powers of Attorney, Wills, and Deeds

During your initial consultation with our team, one of the first recommendations we make is a Power of Attorney designation. A Power of Attorney is by definition, the authority to act for another person in a specific or comprehensive legal and/or financial situations. Regardless of age or phase of life, everyone needs a Power of Attorney.  If you have not previously established one, our team will review the importance and need of having a Power of Attorney. This allows you to decide who will represent you legally if you’re ever unable to handle your own affairs.

Depending upon your intentions, your Power of Attorney will either become immediately effective or will “spring” into effect upon your incapacity. If you do not establish a Power of Attorney, your family could potentially be forced to file a petition with the court for a Guardianship in order to handle your affairs if you become incapacitated. This process is lengthy, expensive and complicated.

There are various types of Powers of Attorney:

• Durable

• Springing

• Healthcare

• General

Within these types of POAs there are also varying levels of purpose and coverage. Do you know what your current POA allows and does not allow your selected attorney-in-fact to do?

Has your life status or situation changed since a previous POA was done? Powers of Attorney need to be periodically updated due to life changes. Marriage, Divorce, Birth of Children, etc.

Powers of Attorney are intended to be designed and drafted in order to meet your specific needs and goals, not simply a “fill in the blank” and “sign here” document.

Another couple of tools utilized in estate planning is a Last Will and Testament and a Living Will.

A Last Will and Testament is a document set up as a final notification for your loved ones on precisely what are your wishes.

A Living Will is a health care document that provides your treating physician and your loved ones with your intentions with respect to “end of life” treatment or care. In most instances, it is applicable when you cannot express your intentions with respect to treatment when you are terminally ill, persistently unconscious, or suffering from a chronic illness that will lead to your death.

Both Last Will and Testaments and Living Wills are the foundation to any estate plan. They each have their place in your future goals and plans. They determine both in life and death, what your wishes are and serve as a guide to your loved ones.

• Last Will and Testament – This allows the final distribution of your personal belongings and assets to go smoothly and according to requests. A common misconception in regards to the Last Will and Testament is that this avoids probate, when in fact, this is established to serve as a guide during probate. In other words, if you own assets in your name alone, they may pass from you to the people you love, as long as you leave a Will. This is a basic form of planning that guarantees that your family will open a probate case after your death to distribute your assets. A Last Will and Testament gives the probate judge a guide for how you would like your estate to be disbursed. While the probate judge will review and consider your Will, all creditors, liens and estate claims are subject to be paid out before the requested distributions on the Last Will and Testament. And probate can take months to years to settle the overall estate after death. A Last Will and Testament does not protect your assets from litigation or lawsuits and also does not protect any assets from Medicaid review or estate recovery. 

• Living Will – a living will is an established document that outlines your wishes in regard to your personal health decisions. Do you want extra life saving measures like being resuscitated or, in this day and age, do you want to be intubated in order to breathe? Do you want a feeding tube if it is required to sustain life? Would you rather a “Do Not Resuscitate” order be in place? A Living Will gives you the opportunity to list these instructions for your loved ones and healthcare professionals. Enabling you to have the control to determine your future healthcare choices.

An extra layer of protection to these documents is a trust. Depending on your personal needs and goals, we can help determine the type of Trust you need.

Deeds and how they are written play an important role in both estate and long-term care planning. Part of our process for planning is to review the deeds to property you own and verify that they are worded appropriately per your specific goals and needs. Our team is dedicated to making sure that your real property is secure and protected along with your liquid and other financial assets.

Deeds can be a useful instrument in asset protection and estate planning that either corrects errors in property transfers for Medicaid planning or that sets measures in place to protect your properties for future Medicaid and estate planning. Our team uses a range of different deed types depending on your goals and estate planning needs. Some include Beneficiary Deeds, Correction Deeds, Deeds of Trust, etc.

Bring your current property deeds in for review and our team will determine if they are set appropriately for your goals and wishes.