Power Of Attorney
How Do I Make A Power Of Attorney In NY, What Is A Power Of Attorney And Why Should I Have One?
If you are located in New York City, Westchester, White Plains, Long Island, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens or Staten Island and are in need of a NY Power of Attorney the NY elder law and estate planning attorneys at The Law Offices of Michael Camporeale can help with this most valuable estate planning and Medicaid planning tool in addition to all of your other NY estate planning and Medicaid planning documents.
First and foremost the NY Power of Attorney is a legal document that a person must have drafted and signed while they have legal capacity. The New York elder law and estate planning attorneys at The Law Offices of Michael Camporeale can make the determination of whether a person has legal capacity to draft and execute a valid Power of Attorney in New York.
What Is Legal Capacity?
Legal capacity means that a person must know and understand what it is that they are signing and who they want in charge of handling their financial affairs. They must not be suffering from any medical or mental defect that could or would diminish their understanding or capacity.
They must be able to understand and make their wishes known in order to create a valid NY Power of Attorney.
A valid NY Power of Attorney cannot be made by someone who for example suffers from a mental defect or medical condition that has affected their ability to understand things.
That is why it is very important to have the NY Power of Attorney drafted before something bad medically or mentally happens to a person. If a person does not meet the legal capacity standards to execute a NY Power of Attorney, it may be too late to have one drafted.
However, If a valid NY Power of Attorney has not been executed and can’t be executed because of a mental or medical condition which has caused a loss of capacity, a formal NY Article 81 guardianship proceeding is necessary. A Guardianship is a formal legal proceeding which would have to be brought by a family member in court in order to have a guardian legally appointed over the incapacitated person in order to be able to legally make and handle financial decisions. This is a safety net that the court has in place if an individual has failed to draft a valid NY Power of Attorney and no longer has the required legal capacity to draft one.
Get your questions answered - call me for your free phone consultation (718) 475-9639
You want to have a Power of Attorney that appoints an agent to handle financial affairs if you are unable to do so because you have lost capacity or suffer from an illness or medical condition which has caused you to be unable to handle your financial affairs. Incapacitation does not mean death. It means you are alive but are not legally capable of understanding and handling your affairs. A Powers of Attorney is used while a person is alive.
Without a valid NY Power of Attorney, no one will have the legal authority to act on your behalf if you become ill or incapacitated with respect to any financial transactions regardless if they are your children, spouse, or other close family relative. It is only a Power of Attorney or a guardianship order that conveys legal authority to handle the financial affairs of another.
For example, if you are incapacitated and can no longer handle your financial affairs, pay bills, write checks, transfer money, your agent under your power of attorney would have the legal authority to do these things on your behalf. In addition, the power of attorney would also give your agent the legal ability to gain access to all of your financial accounts, including, IRA or 401K accounts, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, insurance policies, and the ability to transfer real estate or corporate shares in a coop. All things which are very important for NY Medicaid planning in order to protect assets in the event of nursing home care in NY.
Without a NY Power of Attorney or guardianship order nothing can be done to handle the financial affairs of an incapacitated person. Therefore, that incapacitated persons’ finances are in a state of legal suspension until a guardianship hearing is had and a judge issues a guardianship order.
A NY Power of Attorney is very important for NY Medicaid planning and for protecting assets from a nursing home in New York. Everyone should have a Power of Attorney regardless of age because something catastrophic can happen at any age. A person can have an accident and/or illness which results in incapacitation.
This is why a person must be proactive and have a NY Power of Attorney drafted as part of a proper NY estate and Medicaid plan as soon as possible.
The NY power of attorney will give family members the proper legal tools and advantage for a comprehensive NY estate and Medicaid plan in order to properly handle family affairs making it possible to protect assets from NY nursing homes so that the proper transfer of wealth can occur without being wasted on the catastrophic high costs of long term care.
The New York elder law and Medicaid planning lawyers at the Law Offices of Michael Camporeale have been helping families with the proper drafting of New York Powers of Attorney and all of their other proper New York estate planning and Medicaid planning documents in the New York City Metro areas of Westchester, Long Island, White Plains, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island for well over a decade.
Call our experienced New York estate planning lawyers today for a free consultation. Our estate planning attorneys can help you in every way you need. Our elder law attorneys and estate planning lawyers can come up with a comprehensive NY estate and Medicaid plan and they can also take care of all the documentation for you. Whether you need a NY power of attorney to be appointed after an accident or illness, or if you can no longer take informed decisions in old age, we can take care of everything for you. To speak to an elder law attorney, an estate planning lawyer, an elder law lawyer, or an estate planning attorney in New York, call us today at (718) 475-9639 for a Free Consultation. Our attorneys and lawyers will be happy to help you in Manhattan, White Plains, Bronx, Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens, NY. Our offices are located in Staten Island, New York, Brooklyn, Bronx, White Plains, Garden City, Melville, NY.
Get your questions answered - call me for your free phone consultation (718) 475-9639