Most estate planning attorneys and other professionals encourage their clients to include a financial power of attorney when they are preparing their estate plan. However, it’s important to note that you may need to take additional steps to ensure that an Indiana bank, brokerage firm or other institution recognizes the document.

IT MAY BE NECESSARY TO SUBMIT UPDATED POA DOCUMENTS

It is not uncommon for financial institutions to ignore POA documents that are more than a year old. Therefore, you may need to send new copies of these documents every 12 months even if nothing has changed. In some cases, your bank, credit union or brokerage firm may require you to use its own POA form. An estate planning attorney can review a given firm’s requirements to ensure that your agent will be able to make decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated or are unable to make financial decisions for any other reason.

CONSIDER PUTTING ASSETS IN A TRUST

In some cases, it may be easier to use a trust as opposed to a POA. This is because it may be easier to get financial firms to recognize this type of document regardless of how long ago it was created. Furthermore, including a living revocable trust as part of your estate plan may allow your assets to transfer without the need for probate. It is worth noting that a pour-over will is typically subject to probate even though its purpose is to ensure that items are transferred into a trust.