Planning For Incapacity With Durable Powers Of Attorney

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by: AugulisLawNJ
Word Count: 2269
Date: Thu, 9 Jun 2011 Time: 8:48 PM

If you are committed to planning for all of the eventualities of aging in a comprehensive manner you must be willing to confront the good and the not-so-good. Looking forward to an active retirement when you will have the time to do all of the things that you have been unable to get to while you have been working is actually enjoyable and a source of motivation. Making sure that you have the financial resources to make your retirement plans a reality can take some discipline, but the reward is there when you do in fact call it a career .

But you also have to address some of the challenges that go along with reaching an advanced age as your post-work years pass, and one of these in the possibility of incapacitation. According to the Alzheimer's Association, around four in ten people who have reached the age of eight-five are suffering from Alzheimer's, which of course causes dementia. In all it is estimated that half of the oldest old are dementia sufferers, and this can inhibit your decision making capacity.

If an interested party was to approach the court with evidence of your incapacity, a guardian of its choosing could be appointed to handle your affairs and you could become a ward of the state. To avoid this and seize control of your own affairs you may want to execute a durable power of attorney for health care and a durable financial power of attorney. Since you may have a different person in mind for each respective role you can simply designate two separate attorneys-in-fact.

Planning for possible incapacity is a responsible step. You may or may not become incapacitated at some point in time, but if you do find yourself in this position it is far better to be prepared than to allow the state to determine your fate.

About the Author

Experienced estate planning attorneys Warren NJ of the Augulis Law Firm offers estate planning and business planning resources to residents of Warren, NJ. To learn more about these free resources, please visit www.augulislawfirm.com/ today.

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