WHAT ARE POWERS OF ATTORNEY AND “LIVING”WILLS”?
The law allows us to name agents to make health care and property-related decisions for us at any time we are unable to. We, if we wish, can also declare our desire to have life-prolonging or death-delaying procedures withheld under certain circumstances. In addition to wills and trusts, powers of attorney relating to property interests are useful supplementary devices, particularly in the event of incapacity, in order to permit an agent (the “attorney-in-fact”) to deal with assets which have not already been placed in some kind of trust and to otherwise represent a person’s financial affairs. Such a power, if desired, can be made to take effect only in the event of incapacity and, if a “living” trust exists, the agent can be instructed to exercise the power by transferring assets into the trust in order to permit broader and more flexible management. Finally, the management and disposition of property are not always the only concerns of many people. They are equally concerned about he
