In Florida we have an elderly population. Many people come to retire due to the excellent weather we enjoy. As you grow older, chances are that we won’t function the same way or might need some extra help.
This is where incapacity planning comes in. There are two documents that are particularly useful for incapacity planning, the durable power of attorney and the health care surrogate.
The durable power of attorney and the health care surrogate allow you to select an agent to make decisions on your behalf. One is used for financial decisions, while the other is used for health care decisions.
Having these two documents properly in place, might help you avoid Guardianship court if you cannot make decisions on your own or have some debilitating disease like Dementia or Alzheimer.
The reason why you would want to avoid Guardianship court are similar to the reasons why you want to avoid Probate court. Guardianship is a court process that can be very expensive. On top of that, if you are declared incapacitated certain rights are taken way. Examples of the rights that are taken away are the right to marry, right to vote, right to decide where you should reside, etc.