POWER OF ATTORNEYS

Durable Power of Attorney

Who Can Make Legal or Financial Decisions for You if You Can’t?

RTRLAW can assist our clients with planning for their incapacity by preparing a durable power of attorney, a legal document that provides legal authority for the person that you designate to act on your behalf if you are physically and/or mentally unable to act on your own.

In most cases, a durable power of attorney is used with clients who are elderly or for people who have disabilities. “Durable” means that the power of attorney will remain valid and in effect if you become incapacitated and can’t make decisions for yourself.

A durable power of attorney allows someone you trust to make business decisions, financial decisions or legal decisions on your behalf. If something happens to you unexpectedly, such as a severe illness or injury, setting up a durable power of attorney can protect you and your finances. Your designee can handle banking or investment transactions for you, pay bills, pay taxes, manage real estate, collect benefits that you are owed, operate your business and hire a lawyer to represent you to take care of legal matters.

Without this important legal document, your loved ones would have to go to court to get approval to make these decisions for you, or worse, the state might need to make the decisions for you if no one is named as a power of attorney.

Similarly, a medical power of attorney (in Florida, known as a Designation of Healthcare Surrogate) is a legal document that names someone you trust who can communicate your healthcare and end-of-life treatment instructions to your doctor or medical facility and make life or death decisions for you.

For more information about setting up a durable or medical power of attorney, please contact us, email info@rtrlaw.com or call toll free 833-HIRE-RTR. Our attorneys can meet with clients throughout Florida and at our offices in Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa, Kissimmee, Lake Worth, Miami or Jacksonville.