Living Will

A living will tells your loved ones, medical practitioners and legal decision makers what you want when you can’t speak for yourself. It may be that you leave specific direction or it may be that you tell them who you want to give legal authority to make decisions on your behalf. There are two Power of Attorney documents that need to be considered. Your Power of Attorney for financial and a Power of Attorney for medical. They can be carried out by the people of your choice if you put them in place while you have the capacity. If you don’t, then the government will make those decisions for you.

• At a cost.
• On their terms.
• In their time lines.

In our day to day lives we are travelling, attending parties and visiting relatives and yet we don’t think about the risks involved. What if something happened? How often have you thought “I really should update my will” and then followed that up with “I’m just so busy, I’ll do it later.”? Now, imagine how many drunk drivers there are on the road. We hear so many horror stories about people losing their lives or even worse, getting into a major accident and living! Things are relatively clear when you die. Give what’s left away.

What if you live?

• Who decides how to spend your hard earned money?
• Who protects your assets while you are incapacitated?
• Who keeps your business going?
• Who can make business decisions on your behalf?
• Who decides when to pull the plug?!

Have the discussion with your friends and family. Find out who is willing to be your Executor and/or Power of Attorney. Then take the time to put your Will and Living Will (Power of Attorney) together. Have your lawyer review the documents and get them signed. Before it’s too late. I have personally experienced having to act on behalf of family members in this situation and it was certainly much easier having the proper papers in place ahead of time. I can’t imagine the horror of watching a loved one suffer and not being able to do something about it because there is no authority in place. Please, take the time to write your last love letters to your family, your will and Powers of Attorney. These documents really are love letters. Will you or won’t you? Make it a great day! Barry P.S. What am I thankful for today? I’m thankful for my LegalShield membership. I’m thankful my mother, father and son thought ahead. I’m thankful for every day I’m blessed with. What are you thankful for today?