Schaumburg Power of Attorney Lawyer

POA for Healthcare and Finances Lawyer Serving Rolling Meadows, IL

Everyone should take steps to ensure that their family maintains financial security in the event of their death by establishing a will or trust. In addition to planning for after your death, it is also a good idea to plan for what to do should anything happen to you while you are alive that might make it impossible for you to make decisions on your own. In these cases, establishing power of attorney can ensure that your wishes are carried out correctly, no matter what happens.

Establishing Power of Attorney

Power of attorney gives someone (known as your agent) the authority to make decisions on your behalf. Power of attorney can only be created while you are mentally competent and able to make your own decisions, and it can specify what powers you do and do not want your agent to have, as well as when those powers should begin and end. "Durable" power of attorney will remain in effect if you become injured, incapacitated, or otherwise unable to make your own decisions.

There are two types of power of attorney in Illinois:

• Power of Attorney for Property and Money - This allows your agent to make financial decisions for you, including controlling bank accounts, paying bills, making business decisions, managing insurance policies or retirement plans, and dealing with tax issues.
• Power of Attorney for Healthcare - This allows your agent to make decisions related to your health, including medical treatments, admissions to and discharges from hospitals or treatment facilities, end-of-life decisions, do not resuscitate orders, and authorization for autopsies or organ donation following your death.

Power of attorney ends when you die, so it will not work as a substitute for a will, which specifies your wishes following your death. Power of attorney can also end if you revoke it, upon your divorce (if your spouse was named as your agent), if it is invalidated by a court that determines you were not mentally competent or were under undue influence when you signed it, or if your agent is unavailable.

Legal Assistance in Power of Attorney Matters

If you want to be sure that certain financial actions will be taken or specific medical requirements will be met if you ever become sick, injured, or otherwise incapacitated, power of attorney enables a close friend or family member to carry out these wishes. At Anderson and Associates, P.C., our knowledgeable, experienced attorneys understand the requirements for establishing power of attorney, and we can make sure you have covered all your bases and fully understand every aspect of the legal documents. Please contact our Schaumburg law office at 847-995-9999 for assistance with any matters related to power of attorney in Hoffman Estates, Barrington, Mt. Prospect, Rolling Meadows, and throughout Chicago's northwest suburbs.