Has a loved one named you their financial power of attorney? Are you ready to take on all the responsibilities that entails? Hopefully, you won’t be called into action anytime soon, but with the coronavirus pandemic continuing, it’s something to think about.
If you experienced a temporary illness or needed someone to quickly step in to pay your bills, would your finances be organized enough for them to handle?
With all the media buzz about guardians stealing money from those whom they are meant to protect and overall financial abuse issues involving seniors, it’s a good moment to revisit how surrogate decision-making works.
A power of attorney names a person who can act on your behalf. This person is called your “agent” or “attorney-in-fact.” Before you create a power of attorney, you should know your options and which ones your home state allows.
In these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever to have your legal, financial and medical ducks in a row. Sadly, when serious illness strikes it is usually quite rapid and often unexpected. In these times, however, we do have forewarning that we are all at risk of contracting COVID-19, the coronavirus.
A power of attorney is a document that lets you appoint a person or an organization to handle the financial and medical decisions on your behalf, when you are not able to because of sickness or death. The person or the organization is called the attorney-in-fact or the agent. POA is given to someone whom you can trust with your life.
Taking over a loved one’s affairs is not easy. However, what can make the task less daunting, is to make sure you get off on the right foot by obtaining the necessary legal documents and other information which will make your job much easier.
What would happen if you were mentally or physically unable to take care of yourself or your day-to-day affairs? You might not be able to make sound decisions about your health or finances. You could lose the ability to pay bills, write checks, make deposits, sell assets, or otherwise conduct your affairs. Unless you’re prepared, incapacity could devastate your family, exhaust your savings and undermine your financial, tax and estate planning strategies.
My father only designated my mom as an agent on power of attorney forms, and they have not been updated in many years. Where do you think we should go from here?
If someone has lost capacity to execute legal documents and has no power of attorney in place or has a power of attorney that is no longer usable (for example, if the named agents are deceased), a guardianship proceeding may be the only recourse.
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