At the Law Offices of Odelia Goldberg, we approach estate planning holistically where no one part is viewed in a vacuum. We look at the “big picture” to capture the client’s goals properly. The will is not drafted without considering the overall estate tax plan; the plan for property management at death is not finalized without taking into consideration the property management plan during life in the event of a disability. For this reason, our firm considers a complete estate plan as comprising of at least these four basic documents; Powers of Attorney, Health Care Proxies, Living Wills and Wills/Trusts.
Powers of Attorney
The power of attorney is a document where one person authorizes another to act on his behalf. The power of attorney is not useful in allowing a busy or absentee party to act in her place, making business or financial transactions much easier to complete. Additionally, the power of attorney is useful in the event that a person becomes disabled or incapacitated, minimizing the disruption of financial transactions.
Health Care Proxies
A health care proxy document allows a client to appoint someone to make health care decisions in the event that they lose the ability to make those decisions themselves. The health care proxy makes sure that the health care providers follow the client’s wishes. The health care proxy document can express wishes about organ and/or tissue donation but for a complete list of instructions, the living will document is preferred.
Living Wills
The living will is a document that allows clients to dictate specific health care wishes. This document attempts to anticipate possible medical circumstances and outlines what medical treatments the client would want administered or withheld under those circumstances.