Every woman should consider having these five legal documents that appoint others to act on their behalf and provide a plan of action in the event of their incapacity and death.
Durable Power of Attorney. Although this document is effective immediately, it is designed to be used in the event of your incapacity, when you cannot give prompt or intelligent consideration to financial matters by reason of illness, or mental or physical disability. It can also be used if you are otherwise unavailable, on extensive travel for instance. Under this document, you appoint an individual as your Attorney-in-Fact to perform a wide variety of business and financial transactions on your behalf such as establishing banking accounts, writing checks, and engaging in investment transactions. The Attorney- in-Fact may also be given the power to make gifts, make elections on tax returns, manage a deferred compensation plan such as an IRA, and even create or modify trusts. The Power of Attorney is only effective while you are living. Florida has relatively new laws that govern Durable Powers of Attorney, so even if you already have one, if it was executed prior to October 1, 2011, it is time to execute a new updated version.
Designation of Health Care Surrogate and Living Will. Under this document, you appoint an individual to make all health care decisions for you in the event of your incapacity. Your health care surrogate will make only health care decisions for you which they believe you would have made under the circumstance if you were able to do so. This document typically also contains a Living Will under which you declare and direct the withholding or the withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures if you have a terminal condition or an end stage condition.
HIPAA Release. Under this document, you authorize your health care providers to disclose all of your protected health information at the request of one or more of a list of individuals that you designate. Providing others with access to this information is useful if they need to determine your capacity or if they need to provide insurance companies or medical care providers with this information.
Will. A Will governs the distribution of assets held in your individual name at your death. Under your Will, you also select a Personal Representative (also known as an Executor or Executrix in many states) to administer your estate and also appoint a Guardian for any minor children. By executing a Will, you direct how your assets should be distributed rather than have Florida’s intestate laws govern. Absent a Will, your individual property will pass to your spouse unless either one of you has descendants that are not descendants of both of you. In that case, one-half of the property passes to the spouse and the balance passes to your descendants. If you do not have any descendants, but your spouse does, then in that event, one-half of your property passes to your family, i.e., your parents, as described below.
If you do not have spouse, your assets will be distributed to your parents who survive you, or if neither of them are living to your brothers and sisters in equal shares, with the share of any deceased sibling to be further divided among their descendants.
Revocable Trust. The final document you should consider is a Revocable Trust which is sometimes called a Living Trust. A Revocable Trust provides for the disposition of your assets both during your lifetime and at your death. The Revocable Trust provides a vehicle for the management of your assets in the event you become incapacitated where the assets can be managed by a Trustee. This avoids the expense and complication of having to appoint a Guardian in the event of your incapacity.
Similar to a Will, another purpose of a Revocable Trust is to provide for the ultimate distribution of your assets at your death. By transferring assets to your Revocable Trust you may avoid the need for your Personal Representative to transfer the assets into the name of your estate after your death.
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