As you may know, appointing someone to be your power of attorney (POA) for finances and health care is a key part of preparing for your later years.
A power of attorney is someone that you trust to be your advocate; to make health and financial decisions for you, should you be unable to make decisions for yourself.
What if you don’t have a “go to” person to appoint to be power of attorney?
With more people aging on their own, and with families and friends spread out, it is not unusual for older adults not to have an obvious person in their lives to be a power of attorney.
Some people in this situation hire representatives, typically those in the field of law, finance or healthcare, to fill the role of power of attorney. We’ll discuss more about the specific professionals that can help later, but first back to basics…do you really need a POA?
Is a power of attorney really necessary?
The short answer is, yes. No one has a crystal ball to be able to see what their level of functioning will be in the future. It may be hard to imagine not being able to make your own decisions, but it happens…all the time.
If you were in this situation and you didn’t have a POA, there is a good chance that you may not receive the care you need in a timely fashion. Friends and neighbors may recognize that you are experiencing a decline, but without someone legally empowered to make health decisions or to access your finances to hire care, for example, the help that can be offered is limited.
If your situation deteriorated to the point that you were hospitalized, without a legal decision maker, it’s possible that your treatment could be delayed and that a court-appointed guardian would be sought to make decisions for you.
This is not meant to scare you. Rather it is meant to highlight what happens to people, at times, when they do not have a POA and why having a POA is so important. Even if it means having to hire someone to fill this role, at least someone you have chosen will be ready and able to help.
Who can you hire to be power of attorney?
There is no hard and fast rule about the people you can hire to serve as POA, though it is typically a legal, financial or healthcare professional.
The professionals who act as power of attorney for finances are often elder care attorneys or certified daily money managers. On the other hand, geriatric care managers (with a nursing or social work background) commonly serve as power of attorney for healthcare. It is not unusual for an elder care attorney to serve as both POA for finances and healthcare.
To find professionals willing to be your power of attorney, you can, of course, ask friends and neighbors for recommendations. Or you can search the websites of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the American Association of Daily Money Managers and Aging Life Care for geriatric care managers.
A few other important points about Powers of Attorney
- Be sure you complete an advance directive so that your POA for healthcare is aware of the medical treatment that you do and do not want.
- Discuss your health care wishes with your primary care doctor and give them a copy of your advance directives, including your POA for healthcare.
- Check with your financial institutions regarding their requirements for POA for finances. Sometimes they require the appointment of a POA to be recorded on their own paperwork, in order to be recognized.
- Consider appointing powers of attorney who are younger than you. If your POAs are close to your age, there is a reasonable chance that they may not be available to act on your behalf, when you need them.
- Check in with your POAs every few years, at least, to make sure that they are still willing and able to represent you.
- If you move to another state, be sure that you update your POA paperwork as some POA requirements vary from state to state.
- Remember, a power of attorney does not go into effect unless you are unable to manage your own care.
Having powers of attorney in place, even if you have to hire people to fill this role, is like having insurance. Hopefully you will never need it. But, if you do, at least you will have people that you personally picked ready to look after your interests and make sure that your wishes are honored.
