Power of Attorney Document Preparation in Arizona
Why get a Power of Attorney ?
Also known as a POA. When a person requires someone else to act on their behalf, particularly if they become incapacitated or need assistance tending to important financial and medical issues, a Power of Attorney allows someone to act on their behalf or assist them.
Financial Power of Attorney
Financial Power of Attorney allows another person of your choice to handle financial transactions and assets on someone’s behalf. As a legal document preparer, Senior Planning can assist you with preparing an Arizona Financial Power of Attorney that meets your needs and specific requirements.
In our experience, when people use free fill-in-the-blank POAs from the State AG, or pre-written POAs off the internet, many financial institutions do not recognize these forms as being valid, even if notarized. If someone is incapacitated and the POA must be used, but fails, the next step could be Guardianship, which is costlier and more difficult to obtain than simply doing a POA correctly the first time. Therefore, it pays off to use a professional legal document service like Senior Planning to prepare your power of attorney.
Medical Power of Attorney
Medical Power of Attorney delegates the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf if you cannot make them for yourself. This can be used in combination with other advanced directives. Senior Planning can assist you with the preparation of a Medical Power of Attorney for Arizona.
If someone is incapacitated and the Medical POA must be used, but a hospital or medical institution refuses to recognize it, an Emergency Guardianship must be sought, which is costlier and more difficult to obtain than simply doing the Medical POA correctly the first time.
Other Powers of Attorney
Other Powers of Attorney, covering issues such as mental healthcare or specific financial transactions can also be prepared. Our agency can help you plan ahead by helping you with specific situations that you would like assistance addressing.
POAs and the ALTCS (Arizona Long Term Care) Application
For many people applying to ALTCS, it can be a good idea to have at the very least, a financial POA in place during the application process. During the ALTCS application process, a state caseworker can request up to 60 months back worth of financial documents. Obviously, this can add up to quite a bit of paperwork. A POA can provide enormous convenience during the application as it allows someone to contact any necessary institutions on your behalf. Also, a POA can provide security after an ALTCS approval because if you ever become incapacitated in some way and cannot make financial decisions on your own, a POA will allow a designated agent to keep your ALTCS benefits up-to-date and renewed each year.
Frequently Asked Questions About Power of Attorney Services
Why Use a Document Preparer?
Legal document preparers are the perfect sweet spot for avoiding costly legal fees from attorneys, while also ensuring that your documents reflect your wishes in a way that fill-in-the-blank forms simply cannot do.
Benefits of Having Things In Place
Having Power of Attorney documents in place can save you from having to go through costly Guardianship proceedings in the future and can also prevent someone that you do not know from managing your affairs. If the person you are seeking a POA for is already incapacitated or unable to make decisions for themselves, Senior Planning can also assist with the Guardianship process.
Do I Need Custom Documents?
The benefit of having prepared documents is that everything can be tailored to your situation. In our experience, custom documents are more likely to be recognized by both financial and medical institutions when they are put into use.
Who Can Get Power of Attorney?
Anyone over the age of 18 who is of sound mind can grant Power of Attorney in Arizona. Senior Planning can answer any questions you may have regarding the various types of Power of Attorney.