Granting a Power of Attorney allows for an individual to designate another person, commonly referred to as an attorney-in-fact, to stand in his/her place and to make legally binding decisions on his/her behalf. A power of attorney may be as broad to include all personal and financial decisions that the granting individual could make under their powers, or it may be limited to a specific action or decision.
Powers of Attorney serve as a great estate planning tool in the event that you might become incapacitated or incapable of making decisions on your behalf. An attorney-in-fact can be granted flexible powers to make decisions involving the maintenance and care-taking for you as well as managing your assets and investments. Further, the attorney-in-fact can be authorized to make estate planning, tax and business decisions to best minimize tax liabilities on your behalf.
Setting up a proper power of attorney allows for the establishment of someone to manage your affairs without needing to go to court for a guardianship appointment. Additionally, a power of attorney can be set up to only be in effect when your doctors have deemed you to be incapacitated. Finally, powers of attorney also ensure that gay and lesbian couples will be able to have their partners be appointed to make these decisions as opposed to blood relatives who may not know all the details of your care-taking needs or financial affairs.
Powers of attorney can be as broad and defined as you want. Please call the skilled professionals of Larsen & Teusink PC to discuss how we can help in drafting a power of attorney, as well as any estate planning needs you may have. 678.553.2923.
Posted under Estate Planning, GLBT Law, Probate Law
This post was written by Todd Larsen on August 17, 2010
