Many of us don't know what a Financial Durable Power of Attorney and a Medical Durable Power of Attorney are or how they work.
For now, if you can separate the two as giving power to act for you regarding your finances (Financial Durable Power of Attorney) and the power to act for you regarding your medical decisions (Medical Durable Power of Attorney). The Durable aspect of these powers is another blog, which I promise I'll write in the near future.
If you are unfamiliar with these two types of power you can give to another person, it may sound kind of scary to give that much power to someone else. What if they abuse this power and take all of your money? What if they don't come to the hospital and make sure you are taken care should you not be able to speak?
These are very real concerns and that is why it is important to choose your agents (people who step into your shoes for you when you need their help). We'll be talking more about how to choose an agent another day, but for now, choose these people carefully, just as you will your childrens' guardians.
As a brief introduction into these two powers that are a regular part of your legal papers that your estate lawyer will help you with, take a look at the comparison table I've included here. Even if you don't understand anything more than this table when you talk with your estate lawyer, you'll be doing better than most people.
This topic of durable powers of attorney has so many sub-topics that it will take a while for us to work through everything. We'll take it nice and easy and break out the chunks of information into easy to understand language. This is a good first step.
Take care,
Kay
Breaking up the two is helpful. Tell me more about how to choose the person and what it takes to set them up.
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