Durable General Powers of Attorney
Financial Powers of Attorney
Managing Your Finances When You Can’t Do It Yourself
In your daily life, you are responsible for keeping all your finances in order. You must make sure your budget allows you to pay bills, save and invest and spend money on things you need. Many people take this simple responsibility for granted, assuming they always will be capable of handling their financial affairs and paying their own bills.
The reality is, at some point in many people’s lives, they have health problems or other conditions – including even unavailability – that prevent them from being able to take care of their finances. Financial powers of attorney allow individuals to give someone else the ability to make financial decisions on their behalf and then to act as appropriate in the individual’s best interest. Powers of Attorney must be created and executed while an individual is fully competent.
But more important than that, a thorough and well-crafted Power of Attorney – coupled with a properly-executed Health Care Proxy – helps avoid the need for Adult Guardianships. Adult Guardianship proceedings require the intervention of a state judge; they are emotionally painful, expensive and time-consuming. Even when individuals have joint bank accounts and someone who can access financial resources to keep current with bills and expenses, there could be situations in which an Adult Guardianship proceeding might be required. The Power of Attorney should enable families to avoid that situation, in all but the most extreme and rare case.
David Lacher has over 30 years of experience drafting financial powers of attorney and other estate planning documents for clients throughout Westchester and Rockland Counties and the Boroughs of New York City.