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Cooper Law LLC
Problem: An individual wants to provide for how his or her estate
will be transferred to his or her children or others, to appoint
someone to make health care decisions if/when he or she cannot, to
provide advanced health care directions, and to appoint someone to
manage his or her affairs if s/he becomes incapacitated.
Solution: Attorney Cooper would be happy to guide you through the decision-making
process required to prepare (i) your Last Will & Testatment, (ii) your Advance Health Care
Directive, and (iii) a Power of Attorney (a “POA”). Isaiah will help you decide on who should
serve as the Executor of your estate under your Last Will & Testament, what care you want
to receive if you end up with a terminal condition or are determined to be permanently
unconscious, who you want to make health care decisions for you if and when you cannot do
so for yourself (your health care representative), who you want to make decisions with
respect to the care of your body when you cannot make those decisions (your “Conservator
of My Person”) and whether you want to make a gift or your organs when you die. Isaiah will
also prepare a POA form which will allow you to appoint a person (or persons) to manage all
of your affairs in your place.
You should know that a POA form may be effective either immediately upon being signed
(execution) or may be a “springing” POA, which becomes effective only upon the occurrence
of some future event, usually when you become incapacitated. Some people feel safer with
a “springing” POA because the person appointed (the “attorney-in-fact”) may not take action
until the principal is incapacitated. They are concerned that the person appointed will use
the POA to take control of and steal their assets. This means that the decision about who to
appoint as your “attorney-in-fact” is a very important one. A “springing” POA should also
state who will determine whether the event has occurred. If the future event is your
incapacity and the “springing” POA does not state who will determine whether the principal
has, in fact, become incapacitated, the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, as adopted in
Connecticut (the “Act”), requires the determination to be made in a record provided by:
1. Two independent physicians stating that the principal has a mental, emotional, or physical
condition that makes him or her unable to receive and evaluate information or make or
communicate decisions or
2. A judge stating that the principal is missing, detained (including incarcerated), or outside
the United States and unable to return.
The Act authorizes a person chosen to determine incapacity in a POA to act as the
principal's personal representative under the federal Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) and regulations issued under HIPAA in order to access health
care information and communicate with health care providers. The Act also provides a
sample affidavit form which can be used if the POA authorizes someone to determine that an
event or contingency occurred.