Do You Need To See A Lawyer To Get a Legitimate Power of Attorney?

Sippican said:
True, a lawyer may not be necessary, but you have to ask yourself, are you willing to take a chance on a 'WalMart' version of your last wishes?
There are so many nuances in Wills, Power of Attorney, Health Proxies, etc. that it may be worth a little more to know your wishes are covered.

One of the nuances include wording around how funds are released from a Trust if 1) the original beneficiary(s), is married and gets divorced. If that marriage included children from a previous marriage receiving from your estate, how grandchildren are included, and at what ages and how much at different intervals. What if beneficiaries have a drug or alcohol problem? How can some of the proceeds go toward rehabilitation before any funds are distributed, etc.
My point is, there are so many details that a non lawyer could miss and it could be things we never thought about.
I feel, if its your last wishes for a legacy you leave behind, do the right thing and get a lawyer.
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First of all, since you replied to my reply, I was simply answering the OPs question about whether or not a lawyer is needed for a POA. She did not ask about a will, a living will or a trust. I gave my son POA over one of my brokerage accounts. The form was issued by the brokerage itself, which I was told would be the only form they accepted.

You wrote: "I feel, if its your last wishes for a legacy you leave behind, do the right thing and get a lawyer."
I don't know if that sentence refers to me directly or if you are making the recommendation for anyone who reads your reply. FYI We have belonged to Legal Shield (formerly PrePaid Legal) since 1998. My membership (single coverage) costs $9.95 a month. My son pays about $22 because his family is covered. LS connects us with a designated attorney firm that we can call at any time for legal advice and get assigned the right attorney for the matter. If another attorney is needed to consult on an issue, the assigned attorney will facilitate that connection. Also included are will and living will preparation with annual revisions (when necessary) at no additional charge. They also set up powers of attorney, review documents and contracts as well as write letters and make phone calls on behalf of clients. Their estate attorney prepared my initial will and living will and I have since had the attorney do two revisions.

Besides estate matters, I have used the service to go after a car repair shop and get restitution for a repair gone wrong. They wrote quite a letter to owner and his engine supplier after I got the run around. I got a call from the supplier who was shaking in his boots. I have had them review music business contracts before signing. One company was in California so the attorney contacted a lawyer in California and he called me the next business day to discuss points in the contract. Ultimately he said it was a good deal. Not only money but the music I leave behind is part of my legacy due to money generated from sales, streams and and mechanical royalties.

All that being said, I agree with you that when it comes to the estate matters you mentioned, it's best have an attorney take care of them.
@papa tiger
 

The words, therefore, wherefore etc. are clues to the Legal crap. Specific wording sets specific legal issues. And the Seal stamp
of a notary is so import also along with witness signatures. More the better. Knowing your wording is set in print is specific legal terminology and all your friends / strangers witnessing and signing is pact. A Judge and Lawyers will see 2-3 different meanings for every thing you write down! Delay is the biggest trick they pull, use and gain by it. 2 years is a reasonable drawn-out thing and expenses around.
$5000/$20,000 is very imaginable. Of course, its theft by greed, most likely family caused + Lawyers +++
 

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OneEyedDiva said:
First of all, since you replied to my reply, I was simply answering the OPs question about whether or not a lawyer is needed for a POA. She did not ask about a will, a living will or a trust. I gave my son POA over one of my brokerage accounts. The form was issued by the brokerage itself, which I was told would be the only form they accepted.

You wrote: "I feel, if its your last wishes for a legacy you leave behind, do the right thing and get a lawyer."
I don't know if that sentence refers to me directly or if you are making the recommendation for anyone who reads your reply. FYI We have belonged to Legal Shield (formerly PrePaid Legal) since 1998. My membership (single coverage) costs $9.95 a month. My son pays about $22 because his family is covered. LS connects us with a designated attorney firm that we can call at any time for legal advice and get assigned the right attorney for the matter. If another attorney is needed to consult on an issue, the assigned attorney will facilitate that connection. Also included are will and living will preparation with annual revisions (when necessary) at no additional charge. They also set up powers of attorney, review documents and contracts as well as write letters and make phone calls on behalf of clients. Their estate attorney prepared my initial will and living will and I have since had the attorney do two revisions.

Besides estate matters, I have used the service to go after a car repair shop and get restitution for a repair gone wrong. They wrote quite a letter to owner and his engine supplier after I got the run around. I got a call from the supplier who was shaking in his boots. I have had them review music business contracts before signing. One company was in California so the attorney contacted a lawyer in California and he called me the next business day to discuss points in the contract. Ultimately he said it was a good deal. Not only money but the music I leave behind is part of my legacy due to money generated from sales, streams and and mechanical royalties.

All that being said, I agree with you that when it comes to the estate matters you mentioned, it's best have an attorney take care of them.
@papa tiger
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Nothing pointed at you directly, just sharing a view.
I would be nervous with a lawyer that is a 'catch all' for everything legal. Sure you get handed off to other lawyers depending on what you are looking for in a blanket coverage attorney relationship there must be a disclaimer for accuracy and responsibility.

I need to sit in front of a lawyer, in an office, and discuss details about their expertise in elder law in my state.
 
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papa tiger said:
The words, therefore, wherefore etc. are clues to the Legal crap. Specific wording sets specific legal issues. And the Seal stamp
of a notary is so import also along with witness signatures. More the better. Knowing your wording is set in print is specific legal terminology and all your friends / strangers witnessing and signing is pact. A Judge and Lawyers will see 2-3 different meanings for every thing you write down! Delay is the biggest trick they pull, use and gain by it. 2 years is a reasonable drawn-out thing and expenses around.
$5000/$20,000 is very imaginable. Of course, its theft by greed, most likely family caused + Lawyers +++
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Two witness signatures are fine. Any more is really not needed.
They are witnessing that the lawyer has explained everything to you, not the validity of the words in the documents.
Also, taking the probate stuff out of the picture, its smart to get a living trust.
We can get into the differences between revokable and irrevocable, but a Trust keeps it out of the state's hands. Be careful with irrevocable though, you are giving up your right to manage your own assets at that point and the Trustee(s) are the only ones that can move funds in and out.
Irrevocable keeps your assets out of the nursing homes hands after the 5 year 'look back' clause runs out.
 
We just recently had the whole suite of documents updated from our previous state to our new state of Florida. (It's taken two years to "get around to it".) We also changed from simple wills to revokable family trust. We did use a lawyer and he knew some of the ins and outs that we never could have known or considered. We had always thought in terms of simple wills since we definitely do not have a complicated estate. However, we found out, from the lawyer, that in Florida, to probate a will *requires* an attorney 99.9% of the time - and that attorney fees for probate can be substantial. This made the switch to a trust an obvious no brainer - at least for us. He also explained some of the troubles that can arise for living wills and POAs that are from a state other than the one that you are living in. All in all, I think it's worth using a lawyer and making sure everything is current and accurate for your current state of residence.
 
Sippican said:
Nothing pointed at you directly, just sharing a view.
I would be nervous with a lawyer that is a 'catch all' for everything legal. Sure you get handed off to other lawyers depending on what you are looking for in a blanket coverage attorney relationship there must be a disclaimer for accuracy and responsibility.

I need to sit in front of a lawyer, in an office, and discuss details about their expertise in elder law in my state.
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https://mwm-law.com/attorneys/
Perhaps you misunderstood or I didn't explain correctly. Legal Shield connects its clients to an attorney firm. Those of us who live in N.J., Del and PA get the firm linked above, which is a top notch firm. They have been my attorney firm since 1998. I like that I get call backs from their attorneys usually within a couple of hours. The grace period is 24 hours. I know people who are paying private lawyers who don't bother to get back to them for several days. If for some reason they can't reach me, they send out a card letting me know they tried and are awaiting my call. So although it's a firm, I feel the attention I've gotten has been stellar (read the reviews on their home page if you wish). They resolve my issues quickly and without extra cost, as long as no court case is involved. It's not a "catch all" situation. Attorneys, like doctors, have specialties. You wouldn't see a divorce lawyer for a tax issue. This firm has several attorneys to serve clients' needs.

If I need to "sit down" in front of a lawyer, my step-daughter is an attorney, so is a friend of the family who's office is right around the corner. But for estate matters, I'm satisfied with using my attorney firm. As you pointed stated you need to sit down to "....discuss details about their expertise in elder law in my state." Just like you..I needed expertise from a lawyer in the state the contract I was looking to sign was based in. That's why my attorney referred me to an entertainment lawyer in California.
 
The Lord said, "Satan you handsome devil, I'm going to sue you if you don't let me have that engineer up here in Heaven.
Devil said, "Where you gonna find a Lawyer up there in Heaven!" "Haha"
Mosses said to the Lord, "I hate playing golf wid your daddy!"
Satan said, "Where you gonna find a good official up there!"
 
As a former financial services guy, I do recommend an attorney because both State and Federal laws can be quirky AND attorneys for different companies can be quirky as well and it's well worth the money to have someone knowledgeable in your camp......my two cents on the matter.
 
Jamala said:
SeaBreeze... you may have sorted this out
by now.
Anyway... this is such an important document,
my feedback is see a lawyer.
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Thanks Jamala, and to all who gave advice. I was just curious about this, I know it's an important document, but I'm in no rush to get one at this time. Money was not an issue either, just thought it would be convenient to do something like this online if it was legal and valid.
 
Lilac said:
From his experience with clients, he seen families who had co-decision making power & ended up at odds with each other & wasn't able to make the necessary decisions. He said those were ugly situations & at times, some decisions needed to be made immediately.
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This really makes sense. It’s time for me/us to review our wills. There’re so many life changes now that we need to rethink some decisions.
 
My feeling is that a power of attorney is a powerful legal tool. I would use an attorney. They know about stupid that that can happen to mess up even the best plans and hopefully will draw things up to minimize problems.
 
Lilac said:
I guess it comes down to the point of whether or not you want to take a gamble on whether the paperwork would be honored or not.

All of my parents paperwork, MILs, brothers & ours went through an attorney. I don't want to find in a moment of dire need that the paperwork would be useless when it was needed. Yes, you are paying money, but it will be done right.

It also depends on the type of document your dealing with like wills or trusts. One man I know who works for the ATF says when people send trust paperwork in & if it's done through Legal Zoom, they will not honor it. But if the same paperwork is done through an attorney, they don't have a problem with it. Not sure their reasoning, but that's how they do it.

My one SIL has a medical power of attorney that was done at a local hospital just prior to surgery which is now 5+ years old. We've told her she needs to get one that will be honored no matter where she goes for treatment as another hospital may not want to honor what another hospital did, especially one that old.

As @ohioboy said, you need to follow your State laws. If you have any questions, a lawyer can answer those better than anyone else.
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bobcat said:
For the medical Power of Attorney, I think it just needs to be witnessed by two people, and it can be notorized as well, but some hospitals don't require that.
As for the financial one, you need to decide first if you want a financial Power of Attorney, or a durable Power of Attorney. The regular type ends it's authority when the person becomes mentally incapacitated or dies, so your designated person could handle your financial affairs prior to that happening.
The durable Power of Attorney continues, even if you are incapacitated and continues till you pass away, so whoever you designate can handle financial matters even if you are incapacitated, but still alive.
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Another informative thread. A lot of helpful stuff on this thread. I shall try and save the last two threads I found.
 
PeppermintPatty said:
Another informative thread. A lot of helpful stuff on this thread. I shall try and save the last two threads I found.
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I think you can just click on Watch at the top right of the thread. I have just a few saved.
 

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