What Is Power Of Attorney?

Estate planning is not only about the distribution of your assets after death. A complete estate plan takes into account the "What ifs?" associated with incapacitation during your lifetime.

Who will take care of you if you are in a coma, suffer from Alzheimer's disease, or for any reason can't make decisions for yourself? Powers of attorney are legal documents that can answer these questions at critical times. Without these documents, the alternative your loved ones might face is an expensive guardianship process through the courts that may take too long.

Powers of Attorney: Financial, Healthcare, and Living Wills in Wisconsin

If you are unable to make decisions about your own finances or health care choices, someone else can step in and help if you have created powers of attorney and related documents, including:
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• A power of attorney for finances — Your financial agent can manage your bank accounts, pay bills for you, and take steps to protect your assets if you have to go into a nursing home.
• A power of attorney of health care — Your health care agent can make decisions for your healthcare, including treatment options and life support.
• A living will or health care directive — This document gives instructions to doctors in case your agents are not available.

We know how important it is for these documents to express your wishes accurately.  We will take the time to clearly explain the terms and provisions and help you understand these documents. To make sure your plan will work smoothly, we can talk with your family or loved ones to make sure they understand their roles and responsibilities, at no additional cost.

Why Should I Hire An Attorney For This?

With the free resources that are available, what is the benefit of hiring Block Legal Services? 

• Help When You Need It. Often times, your agents will be seeing your documents for the first time when they actually need to use them. They may not know how the documents work or what their own role is. We serve as a resource that can answer these questions.
• Completeness. Our documents cover more issues than the standard State forms. Our Financial POA includes special instructions about asset protection planning (in case a nursing home is needed), gifting, trust management, and other topics that aren't a part of the State documents. Our healthcare documents include a Directive to Physicians (also called a Living Will) and HIPPA authorizations which allow the disclosure of your medical records.
• Comprehensive Planning. We work with you to give you the information you need to develop a cohesive strategy. Power of Attorney documents are just one of the many moving pieces in a comprehensive Estate Plan, and we can make sure that you don't have pieces working against one another.
• Experienced Advice. Anyone can give you a blank form to fill out. You can even go find them online by yourself. At Block Legal Services, we have the knowledge and expertise to advise you properly regarding these issues, and can help you make the difficult choices that the documents will ask you.
• Customized To You. Different circumstances require different solutions. For some situations, it's best to have the Powers of Attorney only go into effect if you become incapacitated. However, this is not always the best solution, and there are times when it is better to have the documents go into effect right away. Our attorneys can help tailor your documents to fit you.

Want To Learn More about
​Powers of Attorney?

At Block Legal Services in Brookfield, we can help you decide on, draft, and formalize appropriate powers of attorney to complete your estate plan. The forms given out by doctors and hospitals are very limited in what they do, and they may not do enough. 

If you are ready to talk to a lawyer about the benefits of establishing powers of attorney, please call or text us at 414-930-4478 or send us an email. The scheduling tool on the bottom of the page and on the Contact page will allow you to see our availability and schedule an appointment yourself.

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414-930-4478