Prepare your will and power of attorney documents in less than 20 minutes, from the comfort of your own home.
It is commonly believed that estate planning only involves preparing for death. One sec drawing up a will is extremely important, as well as considering what would happen if you were to experience an accident or personal medical emergency. What would you like your care to look like? Who would make decisions on your behalf?
The best way to protect yourself in these unexpected situations is to use preparing a power of attorney.
With a durable power of attorney (or POA), you appoint an “attorney” to represent you in the event of an accident or personal medical emergency. Depending on where you live, power of attorney documents may also be called living wills, personal directives, health care directives, or representation agreements.
Please know that in this case, “attorney” (or sometimes called “representative” or “agent”) does not refer to a lawyer. Instead, your lawyer is the person you have chosen to act on your behalf. Your lawyer can be anyone – a spouse, family member or close friend.
While you never to expect for your power of attorney to take effect, preparing it for an emergency can help you handle your affairs. Some of the benefits of having a power of attorney include:
1. Having someone to handle your financial and legal affairs
If you are unable to do so for health reasons, a power of attorney can do everything on your behalf with your finances.
Having a lawyer means there is someone who can pay your bills and manage your investments. They can also help you make financial decisions and collect outstanding debts on your behalf.
2. Ensuring that your property is taken care of
A power of attorney for real estate can help you manage your finances, but it can also help you manage your physical assets. If you’re a homeowner, you have responsibilities like repairs, maintenance, and other bills. Your power of attorney for property matters will also help you carry out these additional obligations in the event of loss of legal capacity.
Having a power of attorney can give you peace of mind that you won’t miss any important bills or mortgage payments. They can also sell, rent, renovate or otherwise manage your property for the benefit of you or your family — if they believe that’s what you would choose.
3. Making medical decisions in advance
With a power of attorney for personal care, you can designate someone to make decisions about your health care, nutrition, shelter, clothing, hygiene and safety.
You can also specify your wishes regarding pain relief and life support in your power of attorney for personal care documents. This person will be responsible for communicating these wishes to your doctors if you are unable to do so yourself.
Selecting a Personal Care Power of Attorney in advance also allows you to share your medical and personal care choices with this person.
Choosing a lawyer
When appointing a person to be your power of attorney, make sure it is someone you trust. This person should have strong judgment skills, be responsible and know your wishes. Your lawyer should also be of legal age in your province and have appropriate mental capacity.
Many people name their spouse, sibling or close friend as their lawyer.
Being someone’s attorney comes with a lot of responsibility, so it’s important to discuss this with the person you choose in advance. It is also recommended that you create a backup list if your first choice is unable to take on the role or changes their mind.
Preparing power of attorney documents
While the idea of ​​establishing a power of attorney may seem overwhelming, it is easier than it seems! There are many ways to obtain a power of attorney for property matters and a power of attorney for personal matters.
One of the easiest ways to grant power of attorney is to use online estate planning platforms such as Arbitrary. Their personalized platform will ask you basic life questions to ensure you are receiving the right documents and information for your life situation. Additionally, all of their plans include detailed instructions on how to sign and certify your documents to ensure they are legally valid in your province. (They will also let you know if there are any related requirements in your province notarial certification of power of attorney documents.)
However, if you have complicated wishes or specific questions about your estate plan, you may want to consult with an attorney.
Finally, be sure to review all documents regularly to ensure they are current and reflect your current wishes. If you created your documents on a platform like ArbitraryYou can make changes to your documents at any time for free.
