It is best to consider all possibilities when making plans to protect your family.
In addition to creating your will and an estate plan, you might consider that while you are at the attorney’s office you should also get plans for what might happen if you become incapacitated, according to the Times Herald-Record discusses in “Make plans in case you are incapacitated.”
The issue is that if you are incapacitated, someone else needs the legal authority to act on your behalf.
Someone will need to be able to handle your bills and to make medical decisions for you, should it be necessary.
If you do not plan ahead, it can be a difficult process for someone else to get the legal authority.
Someone will have to hire an attorney and go to court to get a judge’s permission to act as your guardian.
Fortunately, planning for what will happen if you become incapacitated is not difficult.
You just need a general durable power of attorney and a health care proxy.
An estate planning attorney can advise you on how best to plan for possible incapacity from a legal point of view.
Reference: Times Herald-Record (Dec. 12, 2017) “Make plans in case you are incapacitated.”
