Blog : Planning

Many people have heard of a Power of Attorney, but may not be sure exactly what it means. Unlike the name implies, it has nothing to do with being a lawyer. A Power of Attorney, instead, is a document used by one person (the “principal”) to grant authority to another person (the “agent” or “attorney-in-fact”) to act on the principal’s behalf.

While it sounds simple, someone with authority under a Power of Attorney can have a tremendous amount of power. Unless limited, the agent under a Power of Attorney has the ability to perform any legal function or task that the principal has a right to perform. This means the agent can do things like bind the principal into a contract; buy, sell, or lease the principal’s real property; and deposit and withdraw from the principal’s bank accounts, just to name a few. The principal can grant the agent all general powers or limit his power to specific activities, as the principal sees fit.

Why should I have one?

Many people believe that should they become ill or incapacitated, their spouse or child may automatically act on their behalf.  Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Without a Power of Attorney, your family cannot automatically pay your bills or manage your assets, often causing long delays.

Without a Power of Attorney, family members can be granted the authority to act on your behalf, but not after going through a lengthy, formal legal process called guardianships or conservatorships. Having a Power of Attorney can avoid requiring your family to go through such a procedure.

How do I create one?

While Power of Attorney can be simple to establish, you should use a lawyer to create one. Do a quick search and you’ll find plenty of online forms out there, but if not drafted properly, those forms may not be honored by financial institutions. For example, many banks will not honor a Power of Attorney unless it includes certain statutory references. When you don’t use the assistance of an attorney, you can’t be guaranteed your Power of Attorney will be valid.

Beyond using a lawyer, a Power of Attorney must be created while the principal is competent and should be notarized. You’ll want to keep a copy and give a copy to your agent, who will need to present the document when acting on your behalf.

What are my options?

Generally, a Power of Attorney is valid the moment it is executed. It is considered, and often called, “durable” because the powers given to the agent remain in effect for the lifetime of the principal, even if he or she becomes mentally incapacitated.

Instead of the Power of Attorney taking effect immediately, it can also be drafted so that it “springs” or takes effect upon the occurrence of some event. If using a springing Power of Attorney, you’ll want to be sure the triggering event is easily and clearly identifiable, otherwise, institutions may not recognize it as being in effect because there is some doubt whether the event has actually occurred.

A Power of Attorney can be revoked at any time, but usually needs to be done with written notice of revocation to the named agent.

Who should be my agent?

Because a Power of Attorney gives another person great authority to act on your behalf, you’ll want to select your agent as someone who you deeply trust to act in your best interest and who has good financial sense. While your best friend may be great to call at 2 am for comfort, if she can’t balance a checkbook, she’s probably not the best person to appoint as your agent.

In addition to your primary agent, you’ll also want to include a successor agent in your Power of Attorney to act if your primary agent is unwilling or unable.

It is not recommended you appoint co-agents in your Power of Attorney. Should they disagree, there is no way to determine who has the final say. Having more than one agent could result in unnecessary delays because they disagree about what action to take.

If you are interested in having a Power of Attorney drafted for an affordable, flat-fee cost, schedule your consultation today.

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This website includes information about legal issues and legal developments. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.

Lauren Lester is an affordable family law, estate planning, and probate lawyer licensed in Colorado.

You may have heard the term advance directive, but have no idea what it means. Maybe you know it has something to do with dying. Maybe you think it sounds like a traffic problem – or a medical one. Unfortunately, the term itself doesn’t provide any good clues.

Thankfully, an advance directive is actually quite simple. It’s a term used to describe a group of documents you prepare to instruct how you’d like to be medically treated when you can’t communicate those instructions yourself.

An advance directive usually consists of the following documents:

• Medical Durable Power of Attorney – With this document, you specify who you want to make medical decisions for you when you can’t make them for yourself. This person is called your Health Care Agent. You can execute this document to go into effect immediately or once a specific event occurs. You can also give your agent broad authority or limited authority, as well as provide specific directions as to your wishes. A Medical Durable Power of Attorney can be revoked or amended at any time.
• Declaration as to Medical or Surgical Treatment – This document is often called a “Living Will” and discusses the administration, withholding, or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures when you have a terminal condition and are unconscious or otherwise incompetent or when you are in a persistive vegetative state. A living will covers things like artificial nutrition and hydration, life-sustaining procedures, and anatomical gifts. A living will should be witnessed and notarized, and can be revoked or amended at any time.
• Disposition of Last Remains – Although your declaration for the disposition of your last remains can be included in other documents, it’s sometimes helpful to have a separate document specifically for this declaration to avoid it getting lost. In this declaration, you instruct how you want your body to be disposed of, whether by cremation, burial, or entombment. You can include as much specific detail as you’d like, including the location, type of ceremony, and even the music played. If you do not make such declaration, someone else will make all those decisions for you.

An advance directive can also include a CPR Directive, but it’s not common. A CPR Directive, or DNR Order, tells medical professionals to not perform CPR on you, regardless of the situation. It’s a pretty severe order, but it is out there as a possibility to include. If you do not have a CPR Directive, the medical professional presumes you want CPR, unless your Health Care Agent directs otherwise.

In addition to documenting your wishes, advance directives, more importantly, let your family know what those wishes are. It’s one thing to be appointed as the medical decision maker for someone, but what decisions should you then make? Do you know whether your family member wants to be kept alive on machines or nourished through a tube? Does he or she want to stay in a vegetative state if there is any chance they could recover? These are important questions to know the answers to. That’s when an advance directive becomes priceless. It gives your family peace of mind by taking out the guess work.

If you’re interested in preparing an advance directive so your wishes can be followed when you can’t communicate them, schedule a free consultation today. I offer affordable, flat-rate services for drafting advance directives so there are no surprises.

Learn more about why you should not DIY your will.

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This website includes information about legal issues and legal developments. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.

Lauren Lester is an affordable family law, estate planning, and probate lawyer licensed in Colorado.

As the year draws to a close, it’s a good time to reflect on the year that was. Hopefully, you experienced many positive moments this year and easily overcame those not-so-positive ones.

During this time of reflection, it’s a good idea to consider what changes occurred in the past year that may affect your existing estate plan documents, including your will, trust, or advance directive. Below is a basic list of events that could have an effect on your existing estate plan. If any of these apply to you, you may want to consider updating your estate planning documents to ensure accuracy.

• Got married
• Got divorced
• Had a child
• Adopted a child
• Lost a parent or sibling
• Bought a home
• Sold a home
• Acquired a large asset
• Disposed of a large asset
• Acquired a large debt
• Enjoyed significant appreciation of an asset
• Changed jobs
• Welcomed a grandchild or great-grandchild
• Moved in with someone
• Were diagnosed with a serious health condition
• Lost contact with a trusted friend
• Acquired a new life insurance policy
• Became a trustee
• Became a beneficiary of a trust

In addition to (or despite) these changes, I hope the last year was as good to you as it was to me. Wishing you a healthy and prosperous new year!

If you have any estate planning questions or want to affordably update your existing estate planning documents, schedule your free consultation today. I’d love to work with you in the new year.

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This website includes information about legal issues and legal developments. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.

Lauren Lester is an affordable family law, estate planning, and probate lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Many of us who have pets consider them family. My husband and I love our two dogs, Jake and Grace (pictured above). Should anything happen to both of us, we want to make sure our dogs are taken care of.

There are a few ways you can care for your pets after you pass away. One is to nominate a caretaker in your will, someone who will receive the pets as a beneficiary. It would be nice to also give the caretaker some money as well, should he or she accept the role of looking after your pets. It’s a good idea have a discussion with the person you are thinking of nominating to ensure he or she is willing to accept the role. In the event the nominated caretaker declines, you’ll also want to provide for an alternative. As your last choice, you should name a sanctuary or no-kill shelter for where the pet should go.

Another option is to leave money to a trust for the care of your pet. In every state but Minnesota, this type of trust will be upheld by the court. The court will appoint a trustee and caretaker. The trustee will manage the assets and ensure the caretaker is doing a good job looking after the pet. To determine how much to fund the trust with, you’ll want to consider the life expectancy of your pet, the standard of living you want to provide, and the cost for the trustee’s services.

A trust is a good option for providing for your pet after you die because it gives you more control over what the trust funds are used for. You can specify everything from what food to give your pet, the types of toys he should play with, the medical care to administer, and how to dispose of his remains. You can even get crazy like Dusty Springfield, who instructed her cat be fed American baby food and to live in a 7-foot-high indoor tree house. As odd as it may sound, the court upheld those provisions and required the caretaker to perform them.

To tie everything up nicely, you’ll also want to name a remainder beneficiary of the remaining trust funds once your pet passes away. A good idea is to leave the remainder to a charitable organization like one that helps find pets a home. You may want to think twice about leaving the remainder to your pet’s caregiver, as it may provide an incentive to that person to not care for your pet in the best way.

While you have options for providing for your pet after you die, one thing you do not want to do is leave money directly to your pet in your will. Including a provision like “I leave $500 to Rover” is not going to be upheld by the court. And at that point, your pet is at the mercy of the court. To ensure your pet receives the type of care you want, you’ve got to leave assets to a human with the instruction to use the money for the pet.

Pets are very much a part of our families and should be considered in your estate planning documents. If you need a will or need to update your will to include your pet, book a consultation today to discuss your options.

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This website includes information about legal issues and legal developments. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.

Lauren Lester is an affordable family law, estate planning, and probate lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Generally, I’m all about DIY. Not only do I enjoy creating something, but it usually saves me money. However, as much as I love it, there are certain things where DIY isn’t always best.

Today, there are several do-it-yourself legal service providers out there, including the most well-known, LegalZoom. While the concept is noble, there’s a reason lawyers are still in business drafting wills. Below are 10 reasons why you should reconsider writing your will using one of those do-it-yourself services.

1. One Size Does Not Fit All – DIY legal service providers create one template to be used by everybody. But everybody’s situation is not the same. In fact, there are often no two situations that are even alike. So to use one template to address each person’s estate is not a recipe for success. Instead, it’s better to speak with an attorney who can understand your unique situation and create a will that reflects your specific needs.
2. The Law Changes –  The law is a moveable beast. In LegalZoom’s own disclaimer, they specifically acknowledge this constant change. Despite this recognition, LegalZoom does not guarantee their forms use current law, stating, “Because the law changes rapidly, is different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and is also subject to varying interpretations by different courts and certain government and administrative bodies, LegalZoom cannot guarantee that all the information on the site is completely current.” Due to this inherent fluidity, using an attorney not only ensures that your will is drafted according to the law but also that when the law does change, you’ll be notified to update your will accordingly.
3. Proof Reading Isn’t Just About Commas – In LegalZoom’s own video tutorial, they show that “eighty percent of people who fill in blank forms to create legal documents do so incorrectly.” 80 percent! And while they explain that their “document service also includes a review of your answers for completeness, spelling and grammar,” they specify that “[a]t no time do we review your answers for legal sufficiency.” While it’s prudent to ensure the spelling in your will is correct, without writing a will that meets your state’s legal requirements means your perfectly punctuated will may be held invalid by a court, even if your family agrees with every single word of it. Using an attorney will ensure your will is not only grammatically correct, but more importantly, follows the law so that the court will recognize and follow it.
4. A Simple Mistake Can End Up Costing Thousands – DIY legal service sites make creating a will sound very simple. And while it certainly does not need to be complicated, there are many scenarios to account for when drafting. In a review of wills created through LegalZoom, attorneys found mistakes that could end up costing the drafter’s family thousands of dollars in legal fees down the road. One example was failing to address the contingency scenario of the death of a child or the birth or adoption of another child. The mistakes found were not blatant or even easy to spot by an untrained eye. But without the expertise of an attorney, DIY will drafters may unknowingly create an unfavorable situation for their families.
5. It’s Not One and Done – At the bottom of their disclaimer page, LegalZoom includes an ad depicting a young family and the headline “Your Last Will”. As nice as the idea is that you create one will and you’re done, it’s not realistic – or very smart. Things change over time. Your family grows. Your assets increase. You change your mind. Even old age doesn’t make you immune. Remember the Alanis Morissette song? “An old man turn 98. He won the lottery and died the next day.” Without updating his will, that old man likely just gave a nice windfall to the person named to receive the residuary of his estate. Legal DIY sites do not provide an easy way to make updates as time goes by. In contrast, working with an attorney makes updating much easier. Instead of having to recreate your entire will using the DIY service, your attorney can quickly make the change, potentially without even requiring an entirely new will.
6. No Talk of Uncle Sam – One of the ripple effects that comes from distributing property by a will is potential tax liability. DIY legal services like LegalZoom don’t take this important factor into account nor do they alert you to any potential issues. There are many factors to consider in creating a will that go beyond the decision of where your stuff should go. (See #8) Without considering potential tax consequences, you are doing yourself and your family a disservice. When you work with an attorney to draft your will, the tax factor is just one of the factors contemplated to ensure your direction is followed.
7. It’s Not Black and White – In addition to constantly changeable, the law is also not black and white. There can be wide space between the black letter text. Without the guidance of an attorney, a simple statement in your will could be interpreted in a way you did not intend. Or, worse, it could entirely invalidate the will, forcing the court to throw it out. Using an attorney to draft your will can help you navigate those in-between spaces.
8. There’s More to it than Saying Who Gets What – Administering an estate isn’t just about following a will. In most states, there are other laws that give certain people rights when someone passes away. DIY legal services don’t take into account these outside factors that directly effect how your estate will be distributed. For example, in Colorado a surviving spouse is entitled to an elective share of the deceased spouse’s estate, notwithstanding what the will says. Without taking these factors into consideration, someone you want to inherit from your estate may be kept out. In working with an attorney, all factors are considered and can help ensure that everyone you want to receive actually does.
9. You’re On Your Own – When using a DIY legal service to draft your will, there’s no one to talk to. As LegalZoom says, it does not provide legal advice. No one is there to ask, “What do you think?” When drafting a will, you have to make several decisions, and sometimes those decisions aren’t easy. It’s helpful to have someone you can bounce ideas off of in the privacy of a confidential relationship. Additionally, an attorney can also help you understand the consequences of your decisions. Without knowing it, a clause you include in your DIY will could potentially disinherit one of your children. Working with an attorney can help you not only make the right decision for you and your estate but also avoid undesired consequences.
10. And You’re Flying Without a Net – Despite admitting that their document preparation services are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney, LegalZoom’s business is to convince you that the advice of an attorney is simply not necessary. But what happens if you believe them, create a will, and find out the form they provided wasn’t using the correct law (see #2)? What’s your recourse? According to LegalZoom, don’t call them. At the very bottom of their disclaimer, they state they are “not responsible for any loss, injury, claim, liability, or damage related to your use of this site.” Summing it up, they say, “In short, your use of the site is at your own risk.” Instead of being left without a safety net, drafting a will with the assistance of an attorney gives you and your family someone to turn to if things don’t go as planned.

In the end, the old adage is appropriate even for will drafting: you get what you pay for. Going DIY here is not in your best interest. That doesn’t mean, however, that working with an attorney to draft your will has to be expensive. Many attorneys offer affordable, and even flat cost, will drafting.

To see what drafting a will may cost you, check out our prices. If you’re ready to get started, book a free consultation today.

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This website includes information about legal issues and legal developments. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.

Lauren Lester is an affordable family law, estate planning, and probate lawyer licensed in Colorado.

The wake of the recent unfortunate events involving Lamar Odom, while stirring a gossip frenzy, does bring to light an important reminder. Whether unconscious, incompetent or otherwise just unable to communicate, anyone of us could be in a situation where we are unable to make our own medical decisions.

Although each state recognizes an individual’s right to make his or her own medical decisions if, in a situation where you cannot communicate that decision, it is important to know to whom medical professionals will look to make those decisions on your behalf.

In Mr. Odom’s case, because the dissolution of his marriage had not been finalized, it is likely his estranged wife would be legally entitled to make his medical decisions. If you’re in the middle of a divorce, your estranged spouse may not be the person you’d like to make medical decisions for you. However, until the divorce is finalized by the court, spouses are still legally married and may remain the decision maker for the other’s healthcare.

If not married, each state lists a priority order that healthcare workers must follow to determine the person to make medical decisions on your behalf. Generally, the state looks to those related to you by blood or adoption. Most likely, domestic partners and close friends are at the bottom of the list or not on it at all. So although you’ve been with your domestic partner for 10 years and he or she is the closest person to you, without a document stating otherwise, the state will not allow him or her to make your medical decisions when you cannot.

The good news is, regardless of marital status, you have the ability to specify who can make medical decisions on your behalf and what those decisions should be. These documents – often called Advance Directives – are an easy way to ensure your healthcare wishes are respected when you cannot communicate them.

As a family law attorney in Denver, I believe everyone should have affordable access to legal services, especially for such an important area as medical and healthcare decisions.

To learn how I can help you create your own advance directive, book a consultation today.

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This website includes information about legal issues and legal developments. Such materials are for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current legal developments. These informational materials are not intended, and should not be taken, as legal advice on any particular set of facts or circumstances. You should contact an attorney for advice on specific legal problems.

Lauren Lester is a Denver affordable family law, estate planning, and probate attorney licensed in Colorado.