When you are making plans for the latter stages of your life a logical perspective is to hope for the best while preparing for any and all contingencies that you may face. With this in mind incapacity planning is something to take seriously. If interested parties suspected that you had become unable to handle your own affairs effectively, they could petition the court to appoint a guardian to act on your behalf.
Most people want to avoid guardianship proceedings. In addition to this type of proceeding being expensive, you may not have any input with regard to who the appointed guardian will be. Most people would prefer to choose their own potential future decision-makers.
Taking steps to prevent guardianship actions is a routine part of a well conceived comprehensive plan for aging. One of the benefits of a revocable living trust is that you could include the selection of a disability trustee who would handle the assets in the trust if you were to become incapacitated and unable to make sound decisions. Spend time considering how you will be determined to be incapacitated. This could eliminate the need for guardianship petitions.
In addition, the execution of durable powers of attorney for financial matters and health care decisions are also typically included in the incapacity planning component of a holistic, modern estate plan.
The only way to be fully prepared for all the eventualities of aging is to plan ahead. If you are ready to take action to this end, now would be a good time to pick up the phone and arrange for a consultation with an experienced Oklahoma City estate planning lawyer.
Larry Parman
Author, President and Founding Attorney
Parman & Easterday
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