Often, people don't think about who would manage their assets or make health care decisions for them if they were incapacitated and could no longer make those decisions for themselves. Unless there is some advanced planning, the answer is a legal appointment of a guardian or a conservatorship by a state court.

        There are several trusts and documents that can be used to protect yourself and your assets in the event of incapacitation. Most are available at our office, but you will need to contact an attorney for others. We do ask that you forward copies of any of these forms to our office for our records. It is important that we know who we should contact in the event of an accident.

 
LIVING TRUSTS

• A living trust is a document that allows for the continuous management of your assets according to the terms you have written into the trust. A trustee is appointed to control the trust, but not everyone is comfortable delegating management to another while they are still healthy.

 
 

• If you prefer to manage your assets yourself, a standby living trust would probably be a better choice than a traditional living trust. With a standby trust, your trustee takes over the management of the assets only after a predetermined event has occurred (i.e.- incapacitation).  If and when you recover, you can reassume control of the trust, but the standby provision allows for the continuos management and adds a safety net to your financial plan.

• An alternative could also be to create a trust naming yourself as trustee. You would then manage the funds, but a successor trustee is named in the document and would step forward if you are incapacitated. There will be no interruption in the trust management and you can again resume control after recovery.

 
 

        In addition to the trusts, you may also want to include long-term care insurance and disability insurance (please refer to the insurance section for more information) to help protect your family and your assets in the event of a disabling accident. Also, a living will (health care proxy) or durable power of attorney for health care can ensure that your wishes are carried out if you are unable to make health care decisions.
 

• LIVING WILL: Basically, a living will speaks for you when you are unable to do so. Usually, the purpose of a living will is to express your wish to not receive extraordinary medical treatment. You determine the kind of medical care you want under the circumstances you describe and you should also express in detail which treatments are acceptable and which are not. For instance, you should specify whether or not you want "artificial feeding" and explain what you mean by "terminal illness". In some states, the living will will not be honored unless you have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. If you are in a coma or have suffered a stroke, your condition isn't considered terminal so the hospital may not honor your living will. However, it is always better to have one than to force your family to make the decision.

 
• DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE: A durable power of attorney for health care- sometimes called a health care proxy- designates an agent to make medical decisions for you in the event you cannot make those decisions yourself. The scope of a durable power of attorney generally goes beyond that of a living will. A living will is usually concerned with life-support treatment while a durable power of attorney can be used to address nearly all health care decisions.