Category: Power Of Attorney

Every estate plan should have a power of attorney, in which you give one or more people authority to act as agents on your behalf, when you aren’t able to. Every estate planner and guide to estate planning will tell you that. What few will tell you is there are at least two important instances when the power of attorney (POA) won’t be recognized and followed.

A serious illness can happen at any age, but just 18% of those 55 and older have a living will, power of attorney for health care and a last will and testament, according to a 2019 study by Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. AZ Central’s recent article entitled “What to know about wills and health care…

No one wants a nursing home but the longer we live, the higher the chance we may need a nursing home at the end of life.

For example, did you name someone as an heir who is no longer in favor with you or—worse yet—has died? Who should get what they would have gotten? Are there now new people in your life—be they family members or not—whom you might wish to share in what you may have?

One in four American adults live with a disability, according to the Center for Disease Control. One in 10 adults over the age of 65 has Alzheimer’s or dementia, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

We found that Covid-19 had a significant impact on Americans’ sense of personal readiness, with 65% saying that coronavirus made them realize the importance of sharing important information with family. Around the same amount of people (64%) noted that planning for the future was more important than ever and half (50%) said the pandemic made them realize how unprepared they were for a serious emergency.

The possibility that a power of attorney might be rejected may be one reason not to simply pull a form off the internet and hope it will be accepted.