A durable power of attorney is a legal document that allows any adult (over the age of 18) to explicitly determine the identity of the person who will be authorized on his behalf to make decisions on his behalf and handle his medical and/or financial affairs on the day he is no longer capable of making decisions and handling them himself. He is also entitled to determine how his life will be conducted in the new lifestyle that was imposed on him when his judgment and ability to make decisions were impaired.
Every person is responsible for his life and all of his decisions during his adult life. These decisions are sometimes also expressed in matters concerning his wishes on the day of his death by drawing up a will that regulates his affairs, his property, and the methods of its distribution after his death.
There are many cases in which a person’s health deteriorates rapidly and suddenly without being expected. In these cases, the patient loses the ability to make decisions regarding their body and its treatment. A sudden deterioration in a person’s health can be due to illness, a car accident, a work accident, a sports accident, and sometimes also due to reaching extreme old age – the third age.
Early planning makes it possible to reduce uncertainty and prevent serious disputes and dilemmas between family members, in everything related to the medical care that will be provided to a person if they have lost the ability to make their own decisions regarding their body, as well as in everything related to their property matters.
In October 2016, Amendment 18 to the Legal Training and Guardianship Law, 5722-1962, came into effect. This amendment is a breakthrough in everything related to a person’s right to appoint a “guardian” for his or her body and property when he or she is lucid and his or her decision is informed, an appointment that will come into effect in a pre-defined situation, for example: loss of consciousness for any reason, brain death, dementia, Alzheimer’s, stroke, etc.
In the past, appointing a guardian in court required a cumbersome legal process, including submitting an annual report to the General Guardian.
The appointment of a person through the execution of a durable power of attorney is completely different from the appointment of a guardian by the court, which is a cumbersome process that requires an annual report to the general guardian. This is while, within the framework of the execution of a durable power of attorney, a person may designate a specific person who will manage his medical and/or property affairs, all according to his wishes as determined in advance in the power of attorney, so that only when the power of attorney comes into effect is the attorney authorized to step into the shoes of the appointer.
The appointing person, in most cases, will choose a proxy whom he trusts and in whom he has confidence, whether a close family member or a person with specific expertise, such as a lawyer, doctor, CPA, etc.
Our office believes that it is important for every person to draw up a lasting power of attorney, at any age and from a sober perspective that the reality in which we live may change beyond recognition without prior notice. Drawing up a lasting power of attorney will inevitably lead to the fulfillment of the person’s wishes as they have determined in advance, in relation to the identity of the attorney who will take care of his affairs and fulfill his wishes in accordance with his instructions given in advance, this is different in purpose from a person who needs the appointment of a guardian and this will be appointed against his will and will decide for him independently.
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