Estate planning often leads people to start the process with thinking about what happens to their assets after they pass away. That is certainly important and will help your loved ones by making it easier for them to handle your estate. However, incapacity is another leading reason why you need to have an estate plan and power of attorney documents.
Ensuring Clarity and Instructions with a Power of Attorney
Even if you are married, a power of attorney helps to provide clarity and instructions. An advanced directive for health care and a power of attorney for financial and legal decisions is recommended and these should be created by an estate planning lawyer. In some situations, not even your spouse may be able to make these decisions for you without these documents.
Avoiding Conservatorship or Guardianship Proceedings
If you don’t have these documents in place and become incapacitated and are unable to speak for yourself, your closest relatives will then have to go through a conservatorship or guardianship proceeding to determine who is able to be appointed to take charge of these decisions for you.
No one wants to make things harder for their loved ones in an already-difficult situation. By taking the pre-planning steps to document what’s most important to you and who you want to help with your affairs or make decisions for you, you’re also allowing your loved ones to make these decisions quickly. Depending on any possible medical condition, time could be of the essence, highlighting why it’s so important to have these documents in place now.
Make Sure Your Documents Are Legally Valid
Since there’s a good chance you may have strong opinions about what happens to you in the event that you’re unable to speak for yourself, document these and make sure that it is legally valid per Massachusetts law. Contact our office today to learn more about how to document your wishes in MA.
