According to the CDC, over one-fourth of American adults have disabilities. Many can continue to lead normal lives without having to rely on others for assistance. However, some face physical and/or mental limitations that require them to trust others to make financial and healthcare decisions on their behalf.
If you fall into this category, consider appointing someone to serve as either your power of attorney agent or guardian. But before you do it, learn about the key differences between power of attorney vs. guardianship to see what sets them apart.
What Is a Power of Attorney?
A power of attorney, or a POA, is a legal document that appoints another person to take charge of your personal affairs. When you sign a POA, you’ll give legal authority to this person to handle decision-making when it comes to important issues like health and finances. You’ll provide a POA agent with the power to decide what to do if you fall ill or seize financial control of your assets.
There are several different types of power of attorney, including:
- Durable General Power of Attorney: Allows a POA agent to control all your personal affairs when you’re facing incapacity
- Medical Power of Attorney: Enables a POA agent to make medical decisions when you can’t do it yourself
- Limited Power of Attorney: Lets a POA agent handle some of your personal affairs
When Is a Power of Attorney the Right Option?
Ideally, you won’t ever need to relinquish control of any of your personal affairs in the near or distant future. But if the time ever comes when you have no choice but to give up control, wouldn’t it be nice to know that you’ll provide it to someone you trust?
Selecting a power of attorney vs. guardianship is the right option for those planning ahead. You can work with an experienced lawyer to draw up a durable general power of attorney just in case you’re ever unable to make decisions for yourself.
Just make sure you search for someone you can count on to make the right decisions if necessary. You might want to sit down with this person and talk about where you stand on key issues to ensure they know which decisions you would like them to make if they ever have to do it.
What Is Guardianship?
Although guardianship is often confused with power of attorney, it’s a much different legal concept overall. Guardianship is a legal process that involves the court appointment of a person to make decisions for someone who is already incapable of doing it themselves. This person is referred to as a guardian, and they’re given a certain amount of power over decision-making.
Guardians can make decisions about a person’s medical care, their finances, and even their living arrangements. The judge in a guardianship case might also ask a guardian to take care of other tasks for the person entrusted with their care. Cooking and cleaning are a couple of good examples of things a judge might request from a guardian.
Just like with power of attorney vs. guardianship, there are a few different types of guardianship. They include:
- Limited Guardian: Calls on a guardian to provide a limited amount of help to an incapacitated person
- General Guardian: Gives a guardian the power to control every aspect of an incapacitated person’s life
- Guardian of the Person: Provides a guardian with the authority to oversee an incapacitated person’s personal care but not their finances
When Is Guardianship the Right Option?
If you don’t sign a power of attorney and you’re ever incapacitated, you won’t have a real choice when it comes to the power of attorney vs. guardianship debate. Your family will need to go to court to ask a judge to appoint a guardian for you.
You can also have a judge appoint a guardian for a loved one if they’re ever incapacitated and didn’t take the time to create a power of attorney. Guardianship is rarely the first option for an incapacitated person or their family, but it’s sometimes the only option.
Call Us for Help Throughout the Estate Planning Process
People typically choose between a power of attorney vs. guardianship during estate planning. Do you need guidance on which is right for your situation? David E. Anderson, PLLC can speak with you further about these two options so you can select the right one for yourself or a loved one. Contact us to schedule a consultation.