The Essential Estate Planning Documents.
Most of us walk through life with very little consideration of what legal documents are necessary in the event of our premature death or if we are unable to make decisions for ourselves due to incapacitation or incompetence.
There are four primary legal documents every person over the age of majority should have in their procession:
- Last will & testament
- Durable power of attorney
- Healthcare representative appointment
- Living will declaration
Last Will & Testament
Most of us are somewhat familiar with the concept of the last will & testament. This document will address administration expenses, speak to the disposal of personal and household affects, and establish the personal representative and any trustee appointments. Basically, the document establishes both the beneficiaries of the estate as well as who will oversee the decedent’s estate.
Durable Power of Attorney
While alive but incapacitated and/or incompetent, the power of attorney is the single most important legal document. While the rules in every state are different, the services of an attorney must be retained without this document. In addition, guidance must be sought from the courts in order to appoint a conservator to represent you. This process can potentially take valuable time, energy, and financial resources. And if this isn’t enough, you possibly may not like the court’s decision.
The primary purpose of the power of attorney is to appoint someone of your choosing to be your attorney-in-fact. This document will grant powers for this individual to act on your behalf. This includes, but is not limited to, the following areas:
- Authority to manage and sell
- Authority to contract
- Options and elections, to grant, sell, transfer, exchange, purchase
- Authority to vote
- Manage securities
- Borrowing and ending
- Authority to sign documents
- Safe deposit boxes
- Bank accounts
- Sign checks
- Prepare, file, and sign tax returns
- Collect monies due
Essentially, this document will allow your attorney-in fact to act on your behalf, managing all of your personal and business affairs while you are incapacitated and/or incompetent.
Health Care Representative Appointment
The health care representative appointment is similar to a durable power of attorney. However, the primary focus of the health care representative is limited to health care services. The health care document appoints someone to act on your behalf as your health care attorney-in-fact. In general terms, the document allows your representative the ability to:
- Employ healthcare providers
- Consent to or refuse healthcare services
- Admit or release from health care providers and or services
- Access medical records
Living Will Declarations
In the living will declarations document, terminal illness issues are addressed by allowing you to declare, in advance, whether your life should be artificially prolonged. Depending on state statutes, there are typically three choices:
- You wish to receive artificially supplied nutrition and hydration
- You do not wish to receive artificially supplied nutrition and hydration
- You intentionally make no decisions concerning nutrition and hydration, thus leaving the decision to your health care representative
We all hope for a long and prosperous life. But life is not fair. Hopefully, you now have an increased level of appreciation of the importance to create and implement these legal documents.
For the record, I want to disclose that I am not a licensed attorney at law. You should seek out a competent estate planning attorney when and if you are ready to implement or review your current estate plan. This document is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.
