A power of attorney is a crucial part of your overall estate planning strategies. This legal system will allow you to designate your choice of person, your “agent,” whom you trust to speak and act on your behalf should you suddenly become ill, injured or otherwise incapacitated. The Power of Attorney gives your agent legal authority to conduct your financial or business transactions, including sign checks, file your taxes, apply for government benefits and other designated matters for you if you cannot do so on your own.

There are different grounds for drafting a power of attorney, but the instrument must be created and signed while a person has the mental capacity to make their own legal decisions. A person can appoint another trusted individual to take care of financial matters, including signing documents and other significant transactions, for a specific time frame, and for a specific purpose. For instance, if a real estate transaction must be made within certain dates and a person is traveling out of town or the country on those dates, or is scheduled for surgery, they may appoint another trusted individual to make those signatures on the behalf of the person.

Many estate plans hold a durable power of attorney with “springing” powers. This type of document will ensure the person who creates the durable Power of Attorney has a trusted person assigned as their agent to handle their affairs should they become mentally incapacitated. The instrument can be created with the language that the agent would only be granted legal authority under the Power of Attorney after a physician indicates the grantor has become mentally incapacitated. It would thus ‘spring’ into power.

An advance health care directive (AHCD) is a separate legal tool which some refer to as a Medical Power of Attorney or Living Trust. This document specifically addresses a person’s wishes for medical treatment for end-of-life care, including their decisions about life support, pain medication, hydration and intubation while they are alive but cannot speak for themselves.