Jul 1, 2011 12:00 PM

Add key paragraphs to a durable power of attorney or advance health care directive to help your client deal with the possibility of diminished capabilities

By Ruth A. Phelps

How do we deal with a client's diminishing capabilities? We need to encourage families to engage in important discussions about allowing an agent to determine when a client's diminished capabilities render her unable to make certain critical decisions, so that the agent can make those decisions on the client's behalf. For example, who determines when it's no longer safe for a client to drive or what music your client will listen to in the last days of her life? Your client can specify the issues to be decided on her behalf and who should decide them in a “Durable Power of Attorney for Finances” (POA) or in an advance health care directive.

The client should consider and discuss these issues now because if she doesn't, they're bound to cause conflicts in the future. In the words of that famous “philosopher,” Mick Jagger, “you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”

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Topics of Interest

Estate Tax	Donor Advised Funds
GSTs	Family Offices
Private Foundations	Life Insurance
2010 Tax Act News	Industry Trends Surveys

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2011 Trust Glossary

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50 Years Ago This Month

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50 years ago, in May 1962, we featured articles such as: "Future of Canadian Trusteeship" by Arthur H. Mingay", "Training Trust Employees" by Ian M. Marr, "What is a Trust Officer?" by Eric J. Brown, and "Selling Services" by Donald I. Webb.

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