Typically, a comprehensive estate plan will consist of documents that address your estate both during lifetime and after lifetime. The documents that relate to after lifetime, address what you leave behind after your death, and may consist of a Last Will and Testament and/or trusts. However, documents that relate to during lifetime could be just as important, if not more important. These documents are known as “Advance Directives” and address important decisions and legal authority in the event you became incapacitated. Advance Directives include a Durable Power of Attorney (to appoint an agent for legal and financial matters), Health Care Proxy (to appoint an agent for health care decisions), and sometimes, a Living Will as well.
By Esther Schwartz Zelmanovitz
