Just as any young family or single person needs to plan ahead for their estate, you may also need to help your aging parents put important legal documents in place, such as living wills, burial arrangements and instructions, and a power of attorney.
A power of attorney is one of these important documents that may be developed with plans based on your parents’ needs. For example, if your parents are already struggling to manage their finances, you may create a power of attorney document that enables an authorized agent to step in relatively quickly. Or you may choose to create a power of attorney that starts at a particular period of time or is limited to only specific actions based on your loved ones’ needs.
A springing power of attorney enables this document to become effective at a future time, such as when one parent becomes incapacitated. In many cases, older parents may name all of their children in a role with shared responsibilities. This may initially seem like the easiest solution for caring for these aging parents. However, it can become very complicated if every adult child needs to provide their signature and consent before taking actions on behalf of a parent.
Communicating with a qualified estate planning attorney helps to ensure that you are on the same page as your aging loved ones, and that everyone is clear about the legal responsibilities and actions taken as a result of developing these particular estate planning documents. You can get a great deal of peace of mind that you can focus your attention on spending time with your loved ones, while minimizing the potential legal complexities that arise when there are no capacity planning or estate planning documents in place.
