People thinking about the future may develop estate plans to protect themselves and their loved ones from the inevitable. Most people associate estate planning with death, as people draft wills and other documents to take care of their loved ones and distribute their property.
However, estate planning is also about protecting oneself in the event of an emergency or long-term incapacitating medical issue. Powers of attorney are valuable for those worried about what might happen to their property when they cannot manage their own affairs or concerned about the medical treatment they might receive if they become incapacitated.
Many people know that there are medical and financial powers of attorney. What they may not realize is that there is another subcategory of powers of attorney. Specifically, people sometimes choose to draft durable powers of attorney.
What separates durable powers of attorney from the basic documents that people might find online?
Durable documents protect people for longer
There are several scenarios in which powers of attorney lose their legal authority. When someone dies, they no longer require an agent to handle their affairs, and the authority to manage their assets transfers to their personal representative.
Other times, an individual who has an incapacitating medical emergency, like a coma, may recover after receiving medical treatment. Once they become capable of expressing themselves and understanding their circumstances, they no longer need the assistance of an agent. In a scenario where people become permanently incapacitated and can no longer act on their own behalf or draft legal documents, standard financial and medical powers of attorney may lose their authority.
People work with lawyers to draft durable documents so that they remain in effect even in cases involving permanent incapacity. State law recognizes the validity of durable financial and medical powers of attorney when the documents include the right language. People can effectively choose their own guardians who can manage their resources and medical care if they never regain the ability to effectively act on their own behalf.
Creating custom documents that persist even after a long-term medical emergency can be an important component of modern estate planning. Durable powers of attorney with customized language offer people the best protection possible when they are at their most vulnerable.