A durable financial power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, and living will are essential documents in a complete estate plan. Together, these documents protect you in the event of incapacity that affects your ability to make important decisions. The estate planning services at Jonathan C. Turner Law Office, LLC include assisting clients with these critical documents, to ensure each document fully reflects the individual client’s needs and wishes.
Attorney Jon Turner provides individualized estate planning services based on the personal and financial circumstances of each client. He gets to know the client and understand their goals and concerns, as part of the process for drafting powers of attorney that are customized to their needs and wishes.
Jon’s professional skill and personable manner immediately make clients comfortable. He is an attentive listener who always answers questions and addresses concerns. Jon establishes a close working relationship with each client, which builds the client’s confidence in his approach and skill. He always communicates effectively and thoroughly, making certain that the client understands every part of their estate plan.
Jon carefully explains how each power of attorney document works, what it accomplishes, and how it addresses the client’s goals. After reviewing the individual documents in detail with the client, he makes certain that every document is executed in compliance with the requirements of Ohio laws.
One of the primary goals of an estate plan is to protect yourself during your life in the event of your incapacity and inability to make important decisions. In Ohio, several documents address this need:
The State of Ohio uses the term advance directives to refer to legal documents that designate healthcare decision makers and provide instructions about your healthcare and medical wishes in the event you are unable to express those wishes yourself. A healthcare power of attorney, living will, and organ donation documents are advance directives under Ohio law.
In all these documents, you (the principal) legally authorize another person as your agent (or attorney-in-fact) to make specific decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated. The documents also provide direction to your agent about how to exercise the authority you give them.
If you do not have these documents in place, or your documents are not valid, no one has legal authority to make financial, personal, medical, healthcare, or other critical decisions for you if you become legally incapacitated. Ohio law establishes a priority order in which certain individuals may ask a court to appoint them as your legal guardian to make decisions for you. The person appointed by the court may not be a person you would want to make those decisions. In addition, obtaining authorization from the court can cause substantial delays in making and implementing decisions that significantly affect your well-being.
By including powers of attorney in your estate plan, you protect yourself during your life and avoid making your loved ones go to court to get legal authorization to care for you if you become incapacitated. Jon Turner works closely with you to ensure that your financial power of attorney and advance directives expressly address all your concerns and wishes and are valid under Ohio law.
A durable financial power of attorney is a legal document in which you: 1) designate a named person as your agent to manage and administer your finances in the event of your inability to perform those tasks yourself, 2) describe the powers your agent will have, and 3) express your specific wishes concerning financial actions taken by the agent on your behalf. The document may grant comprehensive authority to the agent or identify only specific powers that the agent may exercise.
When you complete a durable financial power of attorney and execute it according to Ohio law requirements, your agent can perform the tasks identified in the document, which typically include paying bills, arranging for services or accommodations, and making decisions about property and assets that belong to the principal.
You may name any competent adult as your agent under a durable financial power of attorney in Ohio. But you should use special care in making the selection. Your agent should be trustworthy, understand your needs and wishes in detail, be capable of managing and administering finances, and have the ability to make sound financial decisions on your behalf. When estate planning attorney Jon Turner helps with your powers of attorney, he explains all the responsibilities your agent will have and provides thoughtful and practical guidance to help you make your selection.
While Ohio statutes provide a durable financial power of attorney form, it is in your best interest to get help with your powers of attorney from your estate planning attorney. A durable financial power of attorney affects complex legal rights and obligations. Creating the document with assistance of a lawyer ensures that all your goals and wishes are integrated, that the document is fully consistent with the other documents in your estate plan, and that it is prepared and executed in compliance with all requirements of Ohio law.
In Ohio, advance directives are the legal documents that designate a person to make healthcare decisions for you and communicate your wishes concerning medical care to your agent and medical professionals. These documents ensure that a trustworthy, responsible person can act on your behalf if you become incapacitated and that your healthcare agent and medical team fully understand your wishes.
The healthcare power of attorney is the document in which you authorize a person of your choosing as your agent to make medical and health decisions for you if you cannot make or communicate those decisions yourself due to incapacity for any reason. Typically, this document covers both physical and mental health, although Ohio allows you to create a separate declaration for mental health treatment if you wish to address those matters apart from the healthcare power of attorney.
In addition to appointing an agent, the healthcare POA expresses your wishes concerning medical and health treatment and care. Your agent is required by law to follow your expressed wishes in making decisions on your behalf.
Separate from your healthcare power of attorney, your advance directives include a living will, which is a document expressing your wishes relating to life-sustaining treatment in the event you become permanently unconscious or terminally ill and unable to communicate those wishes yourself. If you do not have this document in place, your medical team makes decisions according to standard medical protocol.
A living will is totally unrelated to the will (last will and testament) that is part of your estate plan. The living will is a completely separate document that addresses your medical wishes in specific circumstances.
Even though forms are available for a healthcare power of attorney and a living will, the best approach for creating these documents is to get help from a knowledgeable estate planning attorney. Jon Turner provides assistance to clients for all essential Ohio powers of attorney and advance directives, as part of his estate planning services.
When you create advance directives, you want to make sure that you customize the provisions of the document to your specific needs and wishes and that you choose the right person to have legal authorization to act on your behalf. Jon Turner carefully reviews all the provisions in the healthcare power of attorney and living will with you, making individualized changes as appropriate to fit your personal circumstances and wishes. He also makes sure that you fully understand the agent’s responsibilities and choose a person who has the ability and understanding to fulfill the legal duties of a healthcare agent.
Ohio law specifies execution requirements for all powers of attorney and advance directives. When you establish these documents with Jon Turner’s assistance, you can rest assured that they meet all legal requirements for validity, including those relating to signing of the documents, and that they are consistent with your other estate planning documents.
Jonathan C. Turner Law Office is conveniently located in Springboro, Ohio. Jon welcomes inquiries about powers of attorney and other estate planning services from residents in Springboro and neighboring communities in Warren, Butler, and Montgomery Counties, including Centerville, Dayton, Franklin, Kettering, Lebanon, and Miamisburg. To schedule a consultation, please call 937-790-WILL or 937-790-9455, or use the online scheduling form.
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