Will Your Family Know Your Wishes?
Estate Planning for Incapacity
If you are incapacitated by a serious illness or injury, or by the gradual loss of your mental faculties, have you appointed someone to handle your personal affairs and make decisions about your health care?
At The Law Office of Cathy Steele, we can help you draft powers of attorney and health care directives to assert your wishes, protect your estate, and spare your family members from unnecessary conflicts and difficult decisions.
Our Clayton, Missouri law firm provides comprehensive estate planning services to couples and individuals in the St. Louis metro area, including communities of St. Louis County, St. Charles County and Jefferson County. Contact us today for a free initial consultation.
Durable Powers of Attorney
A power of attorney is a document that allows you to designate a person (a spouse, adult child or trusted friend) to act on your behalf if you cannot manage your own affairs because of mental or physical incapacity. This advance planning avoids the mess of your family having to go to court to have you declared incompetent and seeking conservatorship, a scenario that often puts family members at odds over who should govern your personal matters.
A durable power of attorney survives even after you become incompetent. At the time of your death, your will dictates how your estate will be administered and distributed. If designed correctly, the person with power of attorney (attorney-in-fact) can pay your mortgage and your bills, make business decisions, execute transactions, enter litigation and otherwise act on your behalf until you recover or until you die.
Cathy Steele has 25 years of experience in estate planning. She can help with the important decisions of who to designate and whether to grant full power of attorney or specify limitations.
Health Care Directives
A durable power of attorney for health care appoints someone to make decisions about your medical care and personal care, such as choice of hospital, having surgery or entering a nursing home. This may or may not be the same person who has power of attorney over your finances.
A health care directive, sometimes known as a "living will," directs doctors and family members on your specific wishes regarding medical treatment and end-of-life care. Would you want surgery, chemotherapy or radiation therapy, dialysis or other medical treatments? Would you want "heroic measures" to resuscitate you? Do want to be kept alive on a ventilator if there is no medical hope of a cure or recovery? Would you want intravenous food and water, or pain medications for the last stage of life? The more these questions are spelled out, the less your family will be burdened with wrenching decisions.
Our client-focused lawyer sits down with you to cover a wide range of scenarios so that you have peace of mind that you will be cared for according to your wishes. To arrange a consultation, including evenings or weekends by appointment, call The Law Office of Cathy Steele at 888-541-5889 or contact us by e-mail.
