POWERS OF ATTORNEY
Ohio Law allows a competent person of at least 18 years of age to designate another person to legally act for him or her for almost any purpose. While there are many variations of Powers of Attorney, there are two primary types. The first is a General Durable Power of Attorney, where you can designate a person to handle all of your financial and legal matters should you become incompetent or incapacitated, whether it be short term or long term. The Agent you designate may also act for you if you are traveling and unavailable to take care of your affairs, even if you are not incapacitated.
The second type of Power of Attorney is a Health Care Power of Attorney. This document allows you to designate an agent to make your health care decisions for you in the event your physician determines you are unable to make your own informed medical decision.
Powers of Attorney can be very effective and useful documents but must be prepared in a careful and considerate manner. Powers of Attorney must be drafted to grant as limited or as broad of powers as you may want or need to give your Agent. Our attorneys at Boyko & Dobeck have vast experience at preparing Powers of Attorney, and welcome any questions you may have about these important documents.
LIVING WILLS
A Living Will allows you to state in writing your wishes not to be sustained by artificial life support in the event you reach the stage of “no hope”. A Living Will is not a Power of Attorney, so you do not designate someone to make the end of life decision. When you execute a Living Will, you are making that decision while you are competent, and providing notice to the rest of the world of your decision not to be sustained by artificial life support when there is no hope. While Ohio Law provides the terms for a standard Living Will, Living Wills are obviously important documents and can be modified according to your specific wishes.
If you are considering a Living Will, please contact our office to further discuss this important document.