Your Will should be coordinated with your Power of Attorney, but don't confuse the purposes of these two essential planning documents.
POA designates a person to act for you during your lifetime; but the power ends at the moment you pass on into eternity.
Your Will gives instructions to your Personal Representative about how your assets should be distributed upon your death.
Many people decide to use Will substitutes (beneficiary designations on insurance policies and retirement accounts, In Trust For on bank accounts, and Joint Ownership) to avoid the need to probate a Will.
You can coordinate all of these methods work together to accomplish your intentions. Talk with an Estate Planning Attorney who also understands Elder Law, and you can learn how to protect yourself and the people you love.
Paul, no, no and no. These documents are each for specific purposes and there's not a crossover provision that would facilitate this. Wills also typically contain much more information on asset distribution after death than I think anyone would even want to share if providing a copy of the DPOA or POA.
In addition, Wills can be updated with Codicils to accommodate legal changes, and that should be done when necessary. Wills also typically contain contingencies for asset distribution, i.e., if the first order of heirs has also died, there are provisions for distributions to a second tier of beneficiaries. Those are critical provisions.
There's absolutely nothing redundant about a Will unless there's a Living Trust involved, but those two documents compliment each other.
In addition to the pretty fabulous spot on info from Bryort and GardenArtist, I’d like to add that all sorts of folks will need to get a copy of the POA, during their lifetime. If you as POA are doing banking for the elder a bank officer can & will ask for the POA; if your meeting with the elders life insurance agent or their FA, those are going to want a copy of the POA too. I’ve heard that a pharmacy asked for dpoa/mpoa in order to pick up certain types of RXs. You really don’t want the details of a will just out there.........
POA is usually a single page document. So an easy leave behind. Wills / codicils can run pages. My moms codicil was dzs of pages as details on testamentary Trusts, reference to old will, plus signatures, witnesses and notary details. Info that was nobody’s business until she died and probate opened.
When you die, the person you name as your power of attorney loses all rights and therefore is unable to make decisions about who receives your life insurance proceeds or other assets. Although most insurance companies require a beneficiary designation form, if you do not name a beneficiary on your form, the insurance company may pay the benefits to your estate. The money then becomes subject to probate. State laws regarding probate vary. In some states, as long as you have a will, the proceeds of your life insurance will be distributed according to the directions you leave in your will. If you leave no will, the court will appoint an executor. Once your debts, probate costs and burial costs are paid, the court usually distributes any remaining assets to your spouse and children. When a person dies the POA dies.
As many have stated, these are entirely different documents with different purposes. I work in a legal capacity, and I certainly don't view a will as redundant to the POA at all. It isn't by any means.
The POA states the powers someone can take on the principal's behalf while the principal is still alive. The POA ends when the principal passes away. Meanwhile, a will is not relevant until the death of the testator.
Also, each document has different execution requirements and content requirements under each state's laws.
I hope you speak with a estate/probate attorney who can assure you the will is not a redundant document and why it is needed in addition to a POA.
Don't try to be cheap here - get the will and separate P.O.A. - those named should have 1 or 2 alternates -
My dad died in Aug but he moved all his money from 1 bank to another - due to privacy laws they couldn't tell the first one how much money he had so they declined being executor - now everything in limbo
No, I don't mess with someone else's will unless you want to face legal trouble. As for your POA, at least in Ohio anyway it automatically ends when the person you're helping dies. That's when the executor of the will will have to open an estate and hire a lawyer for the distribution of money, assets and all other belongings left behind. Don't overstep your boundaries and abuse your powers. This is a very firm warning because it happened to my bio dad who had Alzheimer's. His live in POA somehow wormed her way into my parents lives and ended up moving in on dad at some point, I suspect sometime after mom died in 06. She ended up taking advantage of my dad and ended up with the house through a TOD in 08, most likely through coercion. I'm in the middle of a lawsuit right now to regain stolen funds by the POA from my dad's life insurance proceeds. What ended up happening is his live-in POA illegally abused her powers and changed the life insurance beneficiary from next of kin to herself, definitely illegal in Ohio. Let my story be a warning to you not to overstep your bounds as a POA unless you want to face legal trouble later, and it can definitely happen so please, he'd the warning and be very careful. Anytime you manage someone else's affairs, you're always treading on thin ice, very thin ice so don't break the ice and make waves
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POA designates a person to act for you during your lifetime; but the power ends at the moment you pass on into eternity.
Your Will gives instructions to your Personal Representative about how your assets should be distributed upon your death.
Many people decide to use Will substitutes (beneficiary designations on insurance policies and retirement accounts, In Trust For on bank accounts, and Joint Ownership) to avoid the need to probate a Will.
You can coordinate all of these methods work together to accomplish your intentions. Talk with an Estate Planning Attorney who also understands Elder Law, and you can learn how to protect yourself and the people you love.
In addition, Wills can be updated with Codicils to accommodate legal changes, and that should be done when necessary. Wills also typically contain contingencies for asset distribution, i.e., if the first order of heirs has also died, there are provisions for distributions to a second tier of beneficiaries. Those are critical provisions.
There's absolutely nothing redundant about a Will unless there's a Living Trust involved, but those two documents compliment each other.
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POA is usually a single page document. So an easy leave behind.
Wills / codicils can run pages. My moms codicil was dzs of pages as details on testamentary Trusts, reference to old will, plus signatures, witnesses and notary details. Info that was nobody’s business until she died and probate opened.
As many have stated, these are entirely different documents with different purposes. I work in a legal capacity, and I certainly don't view a will as redundant to the POA at all. It isn't by any means.
The POA states the powers someone can take on the principal's behalf while the principal is still alive. The POA ends when the principal passes away. Meanwhile, a will is not relevant until the death of the testator.
Also, each document has different execution requirements and content requirements under each state's laws.
I hope you speak with a estate/probate attorney who can assure you the will is not a redundant document and why it is needed in addition to a POA.
Moreover, power of attorney automatically ceases on the death of the person for whom it is held. Who then would execute the will?
My dad died in Aug but he moved all his money from 1 bank to another - due to privacy laws they couldn't tell the first one how much money he had so they declined being executor - now everything in limbo