If you do not plan for who will make your financial and medical decisions in the event of your incapacity, a judge will decide who has that responsibility. Guardianship and conservatorship court proceedings are referred to as living probate. To acquire the necessary authority, someone must petition the court for appointment as your guardian (for personal and health care matters) and conservator (for financial matters). If you do not have these documents in place, no one - not even your spouse - can legally act on your behalf with regard to your finances and health care matters if you become incapacitated. The immediate day to day medical decisions format is usually used between spouses and children and aging parents. However, it does not mean the person appointed can overrule one if they are competent. Again, a durable health care power of attorney can be designed so that the person you appoint can have immediate authority when it comes to day to day medical decisions. You may also express your wishes about medical care in this document. Your durable power of attorney for health care, which is also called a patient advocate designation or advance directive, authorizes a person you trust to make health care and medical decisions for you in the event of incapacity. Your durable power of attorney for finances authorizes a person you choose to pay your bills and manage your finances if you become incapacitated temporarily or permanently. In Michigan, a complete estate plan has two types of durable powers of attorney. ![]() What Happens If You Don’t Have Durable Powers of Attorney? ![]() While it isn’t always easy to consider what might happen if incapacity occurs, planning for the possibility of incapacity is one of the essential purposes of creating an estate plan. ![]() This can be especially important between spouses and when dealing with aging parents. It is important to understand that a durable power of attorney can also be designed so that it is effective immediately, as opposed to springing into effect upon one’s incapacity. However, if the document meets the statutory requirements for a “durable” power of attorney, the agent’s authority remains in place if the principal is incapacitated.īy including durable powers of attorney in your estate plan, you designate specific individuals (or a single individual) to act on your behalf with regard to essential matters in your life, in the event you become incapacitated temporarily or permanently, otherwise known as a springing power of attorney. That means the agent can no longer act on behalf of the principal. Unless a power of attorney meets specific requirements of Michigan law, the authority of an agent terminates if the principal becomes incapacitated. A power of attorney may grant general authority, or it may limit the agent’s authority to acting only with regard to specific matters. What Is a Durable Power of Attorney?Ī power of attorney is a written document in which the principal (the person creating the document) gives a named person (the agent or attorney-in-fact) legal authority to act on the principal’s behalf. The fact is that durable powers of attorney are essential all the time for everyone. In a recent blog post, our BRMM estate planning attorneys talked about why DPOAs are especially important because of the risks presented by Covid-19. Your durable powers of attorney protect you and your family during your lifetime from contingencies that could occur at any time. ![]() Yet, they are an extremely important part of every estate plan. When you think about estate planning, durable powers of attorney (DPOAs) probably are not the first documents that come to mind.
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