Many people want to put procedures in place for what will happen if they become incapacitated. If incapacity occurs without advanced planning, it is not always clear what a person wants for medical care, and their assets can become temporarily inaccessible to loved ones when needed. While court supervision over your person and property may be desirable in some cases of incapacity, most clients prefer to plan for private solutions that keep the courts out of things as much as possible. Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives can help accomplish this in most cases.

We prepare Powers of Attorney for our clients to address their financial concerns. By giving someone a Power of Attorney, you can reduce the likelihood of court intervention in your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. The person holding the Power of Attorney can act on your behalf in almost every aspect of your financial life. [Powers of Attorney can also give someone authority to manage your finances for limited periods or only on specific assets.] It is critically important to give such powers only to people who can be trusted absolutely and who are competent to manage your finances.

We prepare Health Care Directives for our clients to address their health care concerns. You can nominate an agent to make health care decisions for you if you become unable to communicate with your doctor. You can also give your agent directions on how you want those decisions to be made. Health Care Directives can be of great value when there otherwise would have been questions about what medical treatment you should receive. [NOTE: In Wisconsin, the document used to appoint a health care agent is referred to as a “Power of Attorney for Health Care”, and “Living Wills” that give health care providers instructions about end of life treatment are often used as well.]