Thinking about what’s going to happen at the end of your life is a little overwhelming. But if you don’t make plans for end-of-life care, you could leave your loved ones in total confusion and with a pile of hefty medical bills.
At Marietta Estate Planning, we know that a well-thought-out financial plan is important – no matter your age or health status. It is never too early or too late to put a plan into place that details your final wishes for yourself, your assets, and your loved ones. Our team of experienced Georgia estate planning attorneys are here to assist you in creating a thoughtful incapacity plan.
Here’s what you need to know about incapacity planning in Georgia.
What is incapacity planning?
Incapacity planning, a branch of estate planning, is creating a plan in case you become unable to control your finances or health decisions, either due to an accident, illness, or old age.
A common assumption about incapacity planning is that having a will, a single power of attorney, or a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) plan, will do the job.
On the contrary, a solid incapacity plan is made up of multiple documents and customized to your personal situation and needs.
An incapacity plan will include:
- A living will, also called a physician’s directive, that states the type of care you desire,
- A DNR that will clearly tell your loved ones what you wish for if you stop breathing or your heart stops beating, and
- Various powers of attorney (POAs) that will give the right people power over your health and your estate.
POAs are specifically important for incapacity planning, as different POAs ensure different things.
For example, there’s a health POA, which lets your agent know exactly what needs to be done healthcare-wise. There’s also a Durable POA that will assign someone to handle your financial and business transactions.
Many people will choose the same person for everything to make it easier, but there could be someone you trust with your life that you would assign for your healthcare POA, and a different person you trust with your business and financial decisions that you would assign to your Durable POA.
If you schedule a consultation call with Marietta Estate Planning, we will discuss your current financial situation, your future finances, and what you want and need at the end of your life. We can also go over who you’re considering for your POAs and how to determine those important decisions.
Why is incapacity planning important?
For the majority of your life, you’ve made your own decisions. You’ve been in charge of your own finances, how you want to live, where you want to live, and how you want to handle your health.
Without incapacity planning, your freedom to control your life will be taken away from you. The reason this kind of planning is so important is so that you will always be in control of your own body and everything you’ve built for yourself.
What do I do if something changes?
If something financially has changed in your life, if you have more children, or you simply change your mind about your previous decisions, you’ll need to update your documents.
Making sure your estate planning and incapacity planning documents are up to date with life changes is very important and needs to be a top priority. Marietta Estate Planning is also ready to help you iron out these details.
Contact a Georgia estate planning attorney today
When you have a plan in place, your loved ones aren’t left with making difficult decisions on your behalf. Don’t push off this planning any longer. Get in contact with us at Marietta Estate Planning to schedule your first consultation today.
