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Contact UsA power of attorney allows you to choose someone you trust to step in and handle certain matters for you when you need help. For many people, it becomes especially important after an illness, hospitalization, accident, or change in health makes handling finances or other responsibilities difficult.
At Pedersen Law, we help individuals and families in Williamsburg and the surrounding Virginia communities put these decisions in writing before someone else has to wonder what they would have wanted. Heather considers powers of attorney, along with advanced medical directives, an important part of a well-prepared estate plan.
It is an uncomfortable question, but a practical one.
Imagine you are hospitalized unexpectedly and cannot take care of your own financial affairs for a period of time. There may still be bills to pay, accounts to manage, documents to sign, and decisions that cannot simply wait until you are feeling better.
A general durable power of attorney allows you to choose someone who can act on your behalf in circumstances like these. Heather specifically points to events such as a stroke or hospitalization as reasons this document can become important very quickly. PEDERSEN - Website Copy Connect…
“You want to decide who can step in for you before there is ever a reason for them to do it. That is a much easier decision to make around a table than during an emergency.”
Dr. Heather Larson Pedersen, Attorney & Counselor of Law
A power of attorney gives another person, commonly called your agent, legal authority to act for you in the areas covered by the document.
A general durable power of attorney is typically used for financial and practical matters. Depending on how it is drafted, your agent may be given authority to address issues involving:
The point is to make sure someone you chose has the authority necessary to handle things when you cannot handle them yourself.
No, and this is an important distinction.
A general durable power of attorney addresses financial and other non-medical matters. Healthcare decisions are generally addressed through an advance medical directive and healthcare power of attorney.
Heather commonly discusses both when helping clients with estate planning. An advance medical directive allows you to identify who should make healthcare decisions if you become unable to make them yourself and can also address your wishes regarding medical care. These documents work together because being unable to manage your finances and being unable to make healthcare decisions present two different problems.
The people closest to you may be ready and willing to help. That does not necessarily mean they automatically have legal authority to do everything that needs to be done.
A power of attorney puts your choice in writing and defines the authority you are giving that person. It can also reduce uncertainty between family members about who is supposed to handle what.
This can be particularly important for Williamsburg families with adult children living elsewhere, couples who have remarried, or people who have recently moved to the area and are updating an older estate plan.
Choose someone you trust with more than good intentions.
Your agent may be responsible for important financial and personal matters, so consider whether that person is dependable, organized, comfortable handling paperwork, and willing to follow your wishes rather than their own preferences.
For some people, that will be a spouse. For others, it may be an adult child, sibling, close friend, or another trusted person. You can also discuss whether it makes sense to name a backup in case your first choice cannot serve.
The best time is generally before you need someone to use it.
Many of our estate planning clients come to us after something in their lives has changed. Some are new to Williamsburg after moving from Northern Virginia or another state. Others are retiring, buying a home, dealing with a health change, or finally updating documents that were prepared many years ago.
It may be worth reviewing your power of attorney after a marriage or divorce, a move to Virginia, a significant change in your finances, the death or incapacity of the person you named, or simply because you would choose someone different today.
A power of attorney is designed to help during your lifetime. Heather specifically distinguishes these documents from wills and trusts because the authority under a general durable power of attorney and medical directive does not continue after death. At that point, your will, trust, and the people named in those documents take on different roles.
That is why we look at estate planning as a group of documents that need to work together, rather than a collection of forms.
A good power of attorney answers an important question before it ever becomes urgent: Who do you trust to handle things for you if you cannot?
Pedersen Law helps individuals and families in Williamsburg, James City County, York County, New Kent, Toano, and the surrounding Virginia communities create and update powers of attorney as part of a thoughtful estate plan.
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