As you head for your golden years, you may glance in the rearview mirror, and notice how busy you had been for the last few decades.
You’ve been working, raising a family and providing for them, while trying to care for yourself and find time for the things you want to do.
You may be reaching a point where it’s time to take the foot off the gas pedal, and slow things down a bit.
Whether you’ve already retired or you’re still going strong, set yourself up now for the next decades to come.
As you begin feeling the wear and tear on your body, concerns as to what the future holds may creep up. You want to make sure you maintain your own independence and have things done your way.
The best thing you can do for yourself AND for your family – is to make your intentions and wishes known today, and provide your loved ones with the tools and means to make those happen with as much ease as possible. That way, when the time comes, those who will be making decisions for you will be the people that YOU chose for each decision, and they will be following the guidelines that YOU created for them.
Even when you are 100% certain that your family only has your best interests in mind, they may not always be sure what decision you would like them to make. Making your wishes known and clear in advance, will help them help you in the best way possible, while minimizing the risk of tension and conflict in your family.
There are various legal tools to help you, including an Enduring Power of Attorney, Advance Medical Directives, a notarized Power of Attorney, and other options.
The beauty of the Enduring Power of Attorney is that it essentially obviates the need for a legal guardian (“apotropus”), gives YOU greater control over decision making, and spares your family members a good amount of bureaucracy, like filing annual reports with the Administrator General (“Ha’Apotropus Ha’Klali”).
An Enduring Power of Attorney can cover (almost) all matters, including financial, medical, and other personal decisions. You can appoint the same person for all these categories, or choose separate people (or multiple people) for each category. If you know one of your children would do a good job handling your finances, but would rather leave medical decisions to another – that is your choice! Do you want to first appoint your spouse, but then if s/he can no longer look after you – appoint your children to step in? That, too, is your choice – don’t leave it to someone else.
An Enduring Power of Attorney does NOT apply to end of life decisions. A separate document must be drawn up for these purposes, and the governing law for this matter is the Terminally Ill Patient Law. Here, too, despite the scope of the law being limited, you have a few options (which include signing advance medical directives, a shorter power of attorney, or a combination of both).
It’s time to sit down and have a conversation about your future. Let’s bring those issues to the surface, discuss your options and wishes, and get it all down in writing, in a legally binding document.
Reach out to schedule a meeting, which can take place at one of our office locations or in the convenience of your own home.