Planning for Incapacity

Posted on

Feb 02, 2018

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Most individuals plan for death, or believe they have been adequately planning for death.
But, very few individuals address the potential that they will become incapacitated. If an individual does not plan ahead for incapacity, the result is often an expensive guardianship where the court and the persons family has the final say. Every adult person should have valid advanced directives and keep their important personal, health and financial information in a location that is easily accessible by a trusted relative.
A person can potentially avoid guardianship by executing a valid Florida Durable Power of Attorney and Designation of Health Care Surrogate. These documents are called advanced directives and allow the agent designated by the person to make financial or health care decisions on behalf of that person.

Florida Durable Power of Attorney laws changed in 2011. Anyone who is new to Florida or hasnt updated their documents in a long time, should at least get their documents reviewed by a Florida licensed elder law attorney. Often times a person has executed a durable power of attorney after 2011, but it didnt have Floridas required super powers which can prohibit an agent from being able to engage in certain long term care planning strategies.

A veterans discharge papers do the veteran no good, if the veteran is incapacitated and the family cant access the document. A person should keep a copy of their Medicare supplement or health insurance information, photo identification, most recent social security statement, pre-paid burial plots, life insurance statement, investment statements, retirement accounts and bank statements in a location that can be accessed by your agent named in the durable power of attorney.

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