Power of Attorney Experts
Contact Jeffers Law today for all your Power of Attorney needs 402-401-2776
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. While everyone knows they should have a will, a more overlooked important document is Durable Power of Attorneys. A Will gives instructions for after you pass away, but a Durable Power of Attorney gives your family direction while you are still alive but unable to act for yourself.
Very frequently people become unable to act for themselves and are deemed incapacitated (mental illness, comma, dementia, Alzheimer's, drug overdose, etc.).
Often an incapacitated person will live for years if not decades in this state. If this happens, they need someone with the legal capacity to take care of their affairs such as paying rent, managing bank accounts, etc. If you act now while you are healthy, you can choose what person you want to manage your affairs if you become incapacitated. This is called your Power of Attorney. If you don't have a POA and become incapacitated a judge will choose who manages your affairs by issuing a Guardianship and/or Conservatorship over you and your estate. It might be a stranger or a family member. However, Guardianships and Conservatorships are more expensive and time consuming to set up and have yearly court oversight requirements.
POA's are not only used for estate planning when someone is incapacitated. Often a POA is used to appoint an attorney-in-fact for a very specific limited transaction such as a single real estate transaction. In this scenario, the principal appoints their agent (POA) to legally act on their behalf and sign important legal documents that bind the principal as if they were signing themselves. After this specific transaction is over the POA ends.
We do not recommend setting up a POA on an online website without meeting with a local Nebraska attorney. POA's vary from state to state and should be customized for your needs. At Jeffers Law, you can submit the form below to get the process started. We will consult with you over the phone and consult with you in person to go over the paperwork and insure that the POA you get is the one you need.