Durable Power of Attorney

Oklahoma City Durable Power of Attorney Lawyer

One of the most important estate planning documents that you can have is a durable power of attorney for heath care (also called a medical power of attorney).

Most married people assume that their spouses would have the right to make medical decisions for them if they were incapacitated, but that is an assumption the law does not make. Without a durable power of attorney, the healthcare professionals will make those decisions. Without a durable power of attorney that contains the proper HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) language, your spouse might not even be able to review your medical records.

A durable power of attorney for health care is a power you give someone else, such as a spouse or an adult child. A durable power of attorney gives the person you name the authority to:

• Hire and fire doctors
• Consent to surgery
• Move you in or out of a hospital, nursing home, or assisted living center
• Make any and all medical decisions (other than end-of-live decisions, for which your agent needs an advance directive or living will )

At Postic & Bates, our estate planning lawyers create durable powers of attorney for both health care and financial decisions. The person named in a power of attorney document is typically called an agent or an attorney in fact. To be an attorney at law requires a law license, but anyone can be an attorney in fact.

A financial power of attorney can be general in form, meaning the person named can do anything you could have done, such as sign checks for you, sign deeds, and transfer titles. A financial power of attorney can also be very specific, such as naming someone to act as your agent in a real estate transaction to sign paperwork for closing.

A durable power of attorney is different than a common law power of attorney. With an old-fashioned, common law power of attorney, the person named as your agent can only act for you as long as you are competent to act. If you had a stroke and couldn't do anything, a common law power of attorney wouldn't be effective. "Durable" means that the power of attorney is effective even if the person who made it is incapacitated since it contains required statutory language to make it durable. Any power of attorney terminates at death.

For more information about powers of attorney, request our free Estate Planning Guide.

Free Consultation: Contact Oklahoma durable power of attorney lawyer Martin Postic Jr. to arrange a free consultation.