Planning for Unexpected Contingencies
In a comprehensive Pennsylvania estate plan, it is crucial to include one or more powers of attorney. These legal documents designate individuals to make critical financial and healthcare decisions on your behalf in the event of your incapacitation. Without such documents, the court may appoint someone to act in your name, regardless of your personal wishes.
At Keystone Elder Law, P.C., we specialize in assisting clients in drafting various types of powers of attorney, including living wills. As dedicated Mechanicsburg estate planning attorneys, we recognize the importance of having powers of attorney in place when facing critical situations. Our team will guide you through the process, addressing your concerns and ensuring a comprehensive plan.
Understanding Powers of Attorney in Pennsylvania
At its core, a power of attorney is a legal document where one person (the principal) appoints another person (the agent) to make specific decisions on their behalf. There are several types of powers of attorney available, each serving a unique purpose. Here are some common terms you will encounter:
- Durable Power of Attorney: Normally, a power of attorney remains in effect while the principal is alive and retains full legal capacity. However, you can designate a power of attorney as “durable,” meaning it remains in effect even after your incapacitation. This allows your designated agent to make decisions on your behalf when necessary.
- Financial Power of Attorney: This type of power of attorney designates an agent to oversee your property and finances, such as managing bank accounts. You can grant broad powers to handle all your assets or limit them to specific financial decisions.
- Health Care Power of Attorney: Distinct from a financial power of attorney, this document appoints an agent to make critical healthcare decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated.
- Living Will: A living will serves as an advance directive, instructing healthcare providers on non-emergency medical treatment to prolong your life if you are unconscious and expected to die. It includes guidance on whether to provide artificial nutrition and hydration.
All powers of attorney must comply with specific requirements to be valid under Pennsylvania law. For instance, they must be dated and signed by the principal in the presence of at least two witnesses, neither of whom can be the named agent. Additionally, powers of attorney must be notarized. In the case of a health care power of attorney, the principal’s healthcare provider cannot act as a witness.
Consult Our Mechanicsburg Estate Planning Attorneys Today
Having powers of attorney and a living will provides peace of mind, ensuring that your affairs and wishes will be properly handled by a trusted individual when the need arises. If you require advice or assistance in preparing these essential documents from a qualified Mechanicsburg estate planning attorney, contact Keystone Elder Law, P.C. today to schedule an initial consultation. Our team is ready to guide you through the process and help you secure your future.
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A Power of Attorney can be used to give another person the right to sell a car, home, or other property in the place of the maker of the Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney might be used to allow another person to sign a contract for the maker of the Power of Attorney (the person who makes a power of attorney is called the “principal”). It can be used to give another person the authority to make health care decisions, do financial transactions, or sign legal documents that the principal cannot do for one reason or another. With few exceptions, Powers of Attorney can give others the right to do any legal acts that the makers of the Powers of Attorney could do them themselves. A General Power of Attorney gives the “power of attorney Agent” or simply “Agent” (the legal name of the person who is authorized to act for the principal) very broad powers to do almost every legal act that the principal can do. When Elder Law Attorneys draft general Powers of Attorney, they still list the types of things the Agent can do but these powers are very broad. People often do general Powers of Attorney to plan ahead for the day when they may not be able to take care of things themselves. By doing the General Power of Attorney, they designate someone who can do these things for them.
Normal Powers of Attorney terminate if and when the principal becomes incompetent. Yet many people do Powers of Attorney for the sole purpose of designating someone else to act for them if they cannot act for themselves. It is precisely when persons can no longer do for themselves that a Power of Attorney is most valuable. To remedy this inconsistency, the law created a Durable Power of Attorney that remains effective even if a person becomes incompetent. The only thing that distinguishes a Durable Power of Attorney from a regular Power of Attorney is special wording that states that the power survives the principal’s incapacity. Even a Durable Power of Attorney, however, may be terminated under certain circumstances if court proceedings are filed. Most Powers of Attorney done today are durable.
Yes. At the time the Power of Attorney is signed, the principal must be capable of understanding the document. Although a Power of Attorney is still valid if and when a person becomes incompetent, the principal must understand what he or she is signing at the moment of execution. That means a person can be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease or be otherwise incompetent sometimes but as long as they have a lucid moment and are competent at the moment they sign the Power of Attorney, it is valid even if they do not remember signing it at a later date. At the time it is signed, the principal must know what the Power of Attorney does, whom they are giving the Power of Attorney to, and what property may be affected by the Power of Attorney.
Any competent person eighteen years of age and older can serve as an agent. Certain financial institutions can also serve. There is no course of education that agent must complete or any test that Agent must pass. Because a Power of Attorney is such a potentially powerful document, agents should be chosen for reliability and trustworthiness. In the wrong hands, a Power of Attorney can be a license to steal. It can be a big responsibility to serve as an agent.
For Medicaid
Medicare is health insurance and covers medical services such as physician appointments, therapy, blood tests, x rays, medical procedures and hospitalization. Medicare will sometime pay for rehabilitation in a long-term care facility for a period of 20 to 100 days, but not longer. In long-term care, Medicaid covers the cost of ongoing support services for daily functioning, such as room and board in a nursing home.
Medicaid is a federal program that is overseen by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In Pennsylvania, Medicaid is called Medical Assistance and is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
In Pennsylvania, Medicaid funds are not available to pay for assisted living or personal care.
For Medicaid to pay for care in a nursing home, an individual recipient must be determined to need a nursing home level of care by a physician and the local Office of Aging. An individual whose income is not greater than three times the poverty level may keep up to $8,000 of total resources, but may otherwise keep only $2,400. The cash value of life insurance counts as a resource, but one car and a residential home does not count as a resource.
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Keystone Elder Law
At Keystone Elder Law, we believe that the physical, social, legal, and financial considerations of our clients all intertwine. We utilize an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate each area, which allows for the creation of a plan that addresses the concerns of the individual as a whole as well as the family. To this end, our model of practice includes a Care Coordinator (usually a nurse or social worker), whose expertise complements our team of attorneys.
When the road of life is smooth, decisions about legal and financial matters are easy to push aside for “a rainy day.” Planning ahead, however, will allow for more options as you view the map of where you’ve been and where you want to go. Don’t let a crisis limit your choices or derail your plans.
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