Two weeks ago, in part one, we discussed the first three of six essential items you need to address in your plan, and here we cover the final three.
4. Durable Financial Power of Attorney
If you become incapacitated and haven’t legally named someone to handle your financial and legal interests, your spouse would have to petition the court to be appointed as your guardian or conservator to handle your affairs. Though your spouse would typically be given priority, this isn’t always the case, and the court could choose someone else. Create power of attorney documents to give your spouse this legal authority.
You actually need two of these documents, and the first one is a durable financial power of attorney. A durable financial power of attorney would grant your spouse the immediate authority to manage your financial, legal, and business affairs in the event of your incapacity.
The second document you’ll need is a medical power of attorney, which we’ll discuss next.
5. Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will
A medical power of attorney is an advance healthcare directive that would give your spouse (or someone else) the immediate legal authority to make decisions about your healthcare and medical treatment, should you become incapacitated and unable to make those decisions for yourself. While a medical power of attorney allows your spouse to make healthcare decisions on your behalf during your incapacity, a living will is an advance directive that explains how you would want your medical care handled, particularly at the end of life.
A medical power of attorney and a living will work closely together, and for this reason, they’re sometimes combined into a single document.
6. Name Legal Guardians For Your Minor Children
Guardians are people legally named to care for your children in the event something should happen to you and your spouse. You must explicitly name guardians in a legal document, or you risk creating needless conflict and a long, expensive court process for your loved ones. We create the legal documents that will ensure your children will be raised to adulthood by the people you trust most and are never placed in the care of strangers (even temporarily). Our Ever After Plan provides you with all of the legal planning tools needed to make sure there’s never a question about who will take care of your kids if you and your spouse are in an accident or suffer some other life-threatening emergency.
Even if you’ve already named guardians for your kids in your will, either on your own or with the help of a lawyer, we often find that these plans contain at least one of six common mistakes that can leave your kids at risk.
A Trusted Advisor For Your New Family
Getting married is an exciting first step for your new family, and you should start things off right by getting your estate plan properly prepared. Like your family, your planning needs are constantly evolving, so you must ensure your plan is regularly updated as your assets, family situation, and the laws change. We develop a relationship with you and your family so we can get to know you, your wishes, and be there for you throughout the many stages of life—and above all, be there for your loved ones if and when you cannot be. Contact us to get things started.
AB Law, PLLC is a full-service business law and estate planning firm that serves clients throughout Texas. All consultations are free and no question is too silly, ridiculous, or complex. https://calendly.com/ablawpllc www.ab-firm.com