When creating your estate plan, you can include a section that names people with powers of attorney in case you cannot make important decisions for yourself.
Making a power of attorney designation is useful when planning ahead for medical emergencies and end-of-life care. In Indiana, you can separate financial and medical powers of attorney.
Financial and medical representatives
It is possible to name one individual with a power of attorney in your estate plan. You can name your spouse or another reliable person to handle everything. However, you can also choose two different people to manage specific responsibilities. A medical power of attorney can empower someone you trust to make crucial choices regarding healthcare and treatment if you become incapacitated or are too sick to do it yourself. Similarly, a person with financial power of attorney can manage your money. If you are a business owner, you can also use a power of attorney to name someone to handle business transactions in case you cannot.
Power of attorney and estate planning
To include a power of attorney designation in your estate plan, you need to create a document that describes the actions your representatives can take on your behalf. Next, you need to sign the power of attorney document and have it notarized. Finally, make sure to create copies of the document for your agents and your personal files.
By including a power of attorney document in your estate plan, you can name trusted people to take on crucial responsibilities regarding your assets and health when you are incapable of doing so yourself.
