Power of Attorney

The Purpose Of A Power Of Attorney

The true purpose of a power of attorney is explained in great detail with an example of a situation that can be avoided if you have a power of attorney.

It is important to know the purpose of a power of attorney before you can realize its importance. There are many types of powers of attorney, and you need to know how they work in order to be able to decide which type (or types) you want to have.

The purpose of a power of attorney is to protect and take care of you should you become incapacitated to the point that you are unable to manage your own assets and take care of yourself. There are two main purposes for powers of attorney—one is for healthcare and one is for finances.

Imagine this scenario:

You have worked your whole life, saving money and investing it. You have a house that’s paid for, cars that are paid for, and everything is great. You have reached your senior years, your children are all grown and out of the house and they have children of their own, they may even have grandchildren by now. Your spouse passed away years ago so you are alone, but you are perfectly capable of making your own decisions, so you don’t think you need a power of attorney.

Then, suddenly, you begin to experience the first stages of Alzheimer’s disease. You, like so many other people, do not want to face or admit the situation, so you still do not create a power of attorney. You attempt to continue living life as though nothing is wrong, but you really are not in a position that you should be making your own decisions.

You can’t remember normal things, such as to take your medication for high blood pressure, and you continue to write checks for the things you need without remembering how many checks you’ve written or what they were for. Then you suddenly find yourself with many insufficient checks circulating (possibly worth thousands of dollars that you don’t have the money to back up), and you are in bad health because you haven’t been taking your medication.

You could be facing jail time due to writing hot checks and you may not be able to reverse the damage done to your health by lack of medication. Someone then has to file a petition—possibly a family member after receiving a call from the district attorney. There has to be a court process and hearing, and the judge gets to decide who will be the best guardian and conservator for you. You may prefer it be one of your children, and he may choose someone else. This person gets to decide when you will go to a nursing home, which one you will go to, and what will happen to your house and other assets. You have no say anymore, and you had no say in who will be making these decisions for you.

So, as you can see, the purpose of a power of attorney is to avoid the above situation. Life-debilitating illnesses and injuries (such as from a car accident) can occur at any time. So, while a power of attorney is most often needed by elderly people, it can be beneficial to many who are still young. The true purpose of a power of attorney is, most importantly, that you get to pick who will run your life in the even that you no longer can.