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Estate Planning FAQs
What is a Last Will and Testament?
What is a Health Care Proxy?
What is a Durable Power of Attorney?
What is an Advance Directive/Living Will?
What is an Emergency Guardianship Proxy?
What is a Last Will and Testament?
A will provides for the orderly transition of property to one's designated heirs and beneficiaries, appoints an executor whose responsibility it is to oversee the proper distribution of property and nominate guardians for minor children.
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What is a Health Care Proxy?
The health care proxy gives the health care agent the authority to make health care decisions for you if you are no longer able to make or communicate decisions.
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What is a Durable Power of Attorney?
A durable power of attorney (DPOA) gives the "attorney-in-fact" (agent) authority to handle financial matters for you and it is designed to be used if you become incapacitated. Thus, it is very important that the named attorney-in-fact (the "agent") be trustworthy and responsible.
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What is an Advance Directive/Living Will?
This document is, in general terms, a statement of your desires that the process of dying not be artificially prolonged if you are terminally ill. Although such a document is not legally binding in Massachusetts, it does provide the health care agent with some guidance as to what your feelings are about these sensitive matters. The advance directive sometimes names a spokesperson to speak for you, who is often the same person who is named as health care agent on the health care proxy.
The advance directive is often valuable evidence of your end-of-life wishes, particularly in the event of a dispute within the family.
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What is an Emergency Guardianship Proxy?
The emergency guardianship proxy designates a temporary guardian for minor children in the event that both of their parents become incapacitated and are unable to care for their children.
This document is valuable for situations in which both parents are on vacation without their children and, while they are away, need someone to act as temporary guardian, perhaps for emergency medical treatment.
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