Matt’s Advice for Financial and Healthcare Planning Documents

The Trifecta: Living Will, Healthcare Proxy, and Durable Power of Attorney

Recently featured in US NEWS and WTOP, Matt addresses the importance of having these legal documents in place during the uncertainty of the global pandemic. Having these items prepared by a professional and in place should something happen ensures your wishes are carried out. They can also be a gift to your loved ones in a difficult time.

“When putting together your living will, you’ll want to complete two related documents, advises Matthew Erskine, managing partner of Erskine & Erskine, a law firm that specializes in estate planning based in Worcester, Massachusetts. 

He says that you’ll want to appoint people to the roles of a durable power of attorney and healthcare proxy. 

The durable power of attorney allows a trusted person, like a family member or close friend, to make financial decisions for you and manage your money, including tasks such as paying your bills or talking to the IRS on your behalf. 

Meanwhile, a health care proxy is the person who is given the responsibility of making health care decisions when you can’t. In the living will, you’ll need to explain in writing what types of health care treatments you do or don’t want performed. 

“Having all three (a living will, a durable power of attorney and a health care proxy) is like having fire insurance: You hope you will never need them, but if you do, they save you a lot of pain and money,” Erskine says. He also points out that “by their nature, these documents, and their authority, bleed over into each other.”

Find more tips and the full WTOP article here: https://wtop.com/news/2020/06/what-is-a-living-will-and-what-to-know-about-writing-one-family-finance-u-s-news/