Posts Tagged ‘Power of Attorney’

Another New Year! Time to review your estate plan!

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

Happy New Year! I hope that everyone has a great and wonderful 2013.

And, to get things off to a good start, I’d like to suggest that you review your estate plan to make sure it is up to date and has taken into account all of life’s changes since you created the previous version.

New members to the family? Some members no longer with us? Perhaps a new pet that you want to make sure is taken care of if you are not able to care for him or her yourself? Have you become involved in a new charitable organization that you think deserves a gift? Perhaps the person you have named as the agent under your Power of Attorney is no longer capable or willing to do the job? Perhaps someone in your family has received a college degree that would make them a better fit for the job of executor or agent? Perhaps you have new acquisitions that need to be re-titled in the name of your trust? Planning a job change this year? Perhaps retirement? Is your health status changing?

This is a good time to take a few minutes to just think about these ideas. And if you think your estate plans needs to be updated, please give us a call. We’d be glad to help!

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Virginia Advance Health Care Directive Registry

Tuesday, March 13th, 2012

In 2008, the Virginia General Assembly passed legislation to allow the creation of a secure online registry of advance medical directives. This registry is now available at www.VirginiaRegistry.org

This Registry allows Virginia residents to store copies of their health care related legal documents in a central electronic space so that these documents can be found quickly by their doctors, hospitals, family members, emergency responders and anyone else that is authorized by the resident. This electronic Registry makes it easier for people to distribute the information that is held in the paper legal documents that are otherwise stored in safe deposit boxes, home safes, home fire-proof boxes, or in a drawer in the home.

These health care related legal documents generally include an Advance Medical Directive, a Power of Attorney for Medical Purposes, a HIPAA release and an authorization for anatomical gifts.

There is no charge for the use of this Registry by Virginia residents.

The Online Registry website is a public-private partnership between the Virginia Department of Health, UNIVAL,Inc and Microsoft Corporation to provide a secure environment using a Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a password needed to access your documents. Once you have registered, you will receive an identification card containing the information that can be used by professionals to access your documents when needed. When you sign up for this service, you can also enter the email addresses of those you want to have access to your documents and the system will notify them about the Registry so they will know how to access your documents when they are needed.

According to information on the site, all registered users will need to renew their Advance Directives on an annual basis and the system will send you a reminder. If the user does not renew their documents within 6 months of being notified, their documents will be moved to an archive system and held there for 5 years.

We always encourage our clients to provide paper copies of their Medical Directives to their doctors, hospitals and to the person that is named as their Health Care Power of Attorney. This online Registry is another way to ensure that your Medical Directives will be accessible by those that need to know your wishes.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

Being Prepared Works!

Monday, August 29th, 2011

I hope this finds everyone safe. Hurricane Irene has come and gone and it appears that most of us on the Virginia Peninsula are ok, although some of us are still without power.

I know that in my family, we are fine. We were pretty lucky in that the power in our house never went out. However, we put all of our frozen foods into a cooler with dry ice ‘just in case’. We also brought in everything from the yard that might be picked up in the high winds, tied down those things that couldn’t be moved inside, and got most of the ‘stuff’ off of the floor in the garage (our garage almost always floods in a storm). We moved our vehicles to higher ground so they wouldn’t be flooded.

And then we left town since the area where our house is located was told to evacuate.

It was hard to sit and wait with that feeling of being powerless. However, it helped that we had done everything we could to be prepared for whatever might have happened.

I think of this today as I am also grateful that we have the proper legal documents to assist our family if an emergency were to happen and we were unavailable. We have the Power of Attorney so that someone could pay our bills. We have the medical directive so that our family would know what to do if we were injured and unable to make our own decisions. We have the Will and Trust documents so that our property could pass more easily in the case of our deaths.

Estate plans are just one more way to be prepared.

I could have been really irritated that we went to so much trouble last Friday to get prepared for things that (luckily) we did not need. Instead, it was comforting to know that our preparations were done ‘just in case’.

If you want to discuss how you can be prepared for a personal emergency, call the office for an estate plan consultation!

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

July is Sandwich Generation Month!

Monday, July 4th, 2011

When I hear the word ‘Sandwich’ I tend to think of Peanut-Butter and Jelly, which always brings a smile to my face.

But there is a new way of viewing ‘Sandwich’ that is not so much fun. That’s the role more of us are playing by being the caregivers of both our parents and our children.

In the grand scheme, this is not really anything new. Families used to always take care of the generations, often in a single home. Grandma and Grandpa shared the same home with their children and grandchildren providing wisdom and assistance as the new generation came along, and receiving the attention and care of those in the family as they slowed down in their elder years.

But things changed, especially here in the United States, and families tended to live in their own separate homes with Grandma and Grandpa often living across town or even across the country. Most of us today can’t imagine even sharing a room with a sister or brother, let alone imagine sharing a home with Grandma or Grandpa.

None of us would consider leaving a two-year old home alone. After all, the two-year old can’t really get food to eat or make sure they make it to the bathroom on time. And there are things in the home that could injure the child if they are not used correctly. The two-year old is also just learning about freedom and self-reliance and if the two-year old refuses to do what we tell them to do for their own good, we can pick them up and put them in their bedroom for a ‘time out’. The parents get to set the ground rules because a two-year old doesn’t know that it is even possible to stay up past 8:00.

It’s a different story with our aging parents. They DO know that they can stay up past 8:00, and they’ve done it for years! Why, they even taught US! And most of the time, they are too large to pick up and physically move to the bedroom for a ‘time out’ when they get cantankerous. Unfortunately, our aging parents might also be in the position of not being able to get food for themselves or eating correctly, or making it to the bathroom on time, or using things in the home that can cause injury if not used correctly.

Our parents are living longer and having more health issues, both physical and mental, then previous generations. I know there was nobody in my family that ever got cancer until my uncle was diagnosed a few years ago. But nobody in the family had ever lived to be 85 before either. On my dad’s side of the family, there wasn’t a history of dementia until the family members starting living into their 90’s.

Luckily, there are more and more services available to help us take care of our parents. These services can take away some of the stress involved in day-to-day chores such as making sure that our parents are eating correctly and being kept clean and safe. There was a time when babysitters and day-care centers for children were a new concept, even though today we see them as an established institution in our lifestyle. It appears that there will come a day when adult care givers and adult day-care centers will also become established in our lifestyle.

These services cost money. But unlike children who have no resources of their own, often our parents will have some resources available to them to help pay for the services needed for their care.

Also, as parents of minor children you have the legal authority to make decisions for your children. This is not so for your parents. It is important to have the correct documents in place so that you have the authority to make important and day-to-day decisions for your aging parents. These include Powers of Attorney and Medical Directives. You might also want to consider establishing a Trust so that your parent’s assets can be transferred with a minimum of hassle and used for their benefit.

What should you do? Read…there are a lot of resources available on the web. Talk to your parents…find out what they want while they are able to tell you. Talk to people you trust…your doctor, your pastor, your lawyer. Ask them to recommend services or service providers that they trust. Unfortunately there are some scams out there that sound good but don’t really offer the right services for your needs. And most of all, have patience. Remember that these are the people that spent their time raising you, dealing with you when you made mistakes and who helped mold you into who you are today. Be patient with them, knowing that they are also having difficulty dealing with this role reversal.

If you have any questions about this or any other legal subject, please feel free to give us a call at 757-234-4650 or visit our website at http://www.BeaversLaw.com.

A Unique Graduation Present

Monday, May 30th, 2011

May and June are busy months if you have a senior in high school or college. There are graduation parties, plans for the future and the hunt for the perfect graduation present.

You want something ‘different’, not the same old ‘cross pen’ or ‘briefcase’ or whatever.

Why not a Durable Power of Attorney? or an Advance Medical Directive?

Lots of graduates don’t think they need these and many don’t think they can afford to pay a lawyer to have these critical documents drafted for them. Unfortunately, the truth is that these are vital documents that every adult should have in place before they are needed. And young adults are one of the groups that is most prone to accidents and might need to have these documents in the next few years.

Once a person reaches the age of 18, he or she is considered a legal adult. This means that Mom and Dad can no longer make legal decisions for them. Mom and Dad can no longer call the school to make arrangements for school work if the child is ill. Mom and Dad can no longer take the child to the hospital and authorize treatment. Mom and Dad can no longer call the insurance company and take over after a car accident.

That is, unless the child has named Mom and/or Dad as their agent under a Power of Attorney.

This year, why not give the graduate in your life something really different? (and really useful!)

To Learn more about Kristina Beavers, Attorney at Law visit the website at www.BeaversLaw.com