Indiana Power of Attorney
How often have you used an Indiana power of attorney? Many people do not understand them and therefore do not use these handy tools. Powers of attorney can be an important addition to your estate plan and they can also be useful in every day life.
In Indiana, the person you are granting power to, is called an attorney-in-fact. This does not mean they have to be an attorney, in fact, many people assign their spouse as the attorney-in-fact. If you have your spouse listed as your attorney-in-fact, keep in mind, your Indiana power of attorney is automatically void should you ever get divorced. Another way for your power of attorney to become void is if the attorney-in-fact cannot be located. For this reason it is a good idea to assign an alternate.
Many special, or limited power of attorneys could be used in everyday life if you just new about them. A vehicle power of attorney allows another person to sell a vehicle and transfer a title in your absence. A real estate closing can be done without you if your realtor has a power of attorney to sign for you. Your children could receive immediate medical attention if your child care giver had a power of attorney for minors.
General powers of attorney are useful also, but the powers granted are much broader, so they need to used with special care. A trip overseas may require leaving a trusted person at home with a general power of attorney to handle any emergency that might arise. Many people with dual residents have a trusted friend in each town holding one of their general power of attorney documents. The friend could then take care of property maintenance and emergencies, open mail, pay bills and any number of other things.
Your Indiana estate planning attorney may have already told you about durable powers of attorney and springing durable powers of attorney. These are documents that go into effect only after a doctor has found you to be mentally incompetent to make decisions for yourself. Whether it's caused by old age, sickness or an accident, having someone assigned to take over for you is important. Your durable powers of attorney need to cover all issues regarding health care and finances. These are normally handled in separate documents and should probably be prepared and filed by your attorney.
Normal powers of attorney are fairly straightforward documents and could be filled out by yourself. Finding Indiana power of attorney forms is easy at Legal Zoom. They are open 24 hours a day with all the legal forms you would ever need.
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