Incapacity Planning & Powers of Attorney
Protecting your wishes through advance planning
Incapacity Planning
Preparing for Incapacity Before It Happens
Life can change unexpectedly, and incapacity planning helps ensure your wishes are respected if you are unable to make decisions for yourself due to illness, injury, or declining health. Kevin Pillion works with individuals and families across Florida to create legal documents that provide guidance and continuity during these situations. Planning ahead allows you to maintain control over important decisions even if you cannot communicate them at the time.
Without incapacity planning documents in place, families may need to rely on court proceedings to determine who can act on your behalf. This process can be time-consuming, stressful, and costly. Creating a clear plan in advance helps reduce uncertainty and provides direction when it is needed most.
Call at to schedule a free consultation.
Financial and Medical Decision-Making Tools
Powers of attorney play a central role in incapacity planning. A financial power of attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to handle matters such as paying bills, managing property, or accessing financial accounts if you are unable to do so yourself. In Florida, these documents must meet specific legal requirements to be effective. Kevin Pillion helps clients understand how these documents work and how to structure them appropriately.
In addition to financial planning, health care directives allow you to outline your medical preferences and designate a health care surrogate to make medical decisions on your behalf. These documents help ensure your wishes are followed and provide guidance to loved ones and medical providers during difficult moments.
Personalized Incapacity Planning for Florida Residents
Incapacity planning should reflect your unique circumstances, relationships, and long-term goals. Kevin Pillion provides one-on-one legal guidance to help clients create powers of attorney and related documents that align with their broader estate plans. Clients work directly with Kevin throughout the process, ensuring clarity and consistency from start to finish.
Putting these documents in place can provide reassurance to both you and your family. Thoughtful incapacity planning helps reduce confusion, limits court involvement, and ensures trusted individuals are prepared to act if the need arises.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do YOU want to make your health care decisions if you were unable to?
A Health Care Power of Attorney, also called a Designated Health Care Surrogate, is a legal document appointing another person as your “Health-Care Agent” to make your medical and health care decisions when you are unable to do so. These decisions include choosing the following: (1) Doctors and other Health care providers, (2) Types of treatments you receive, and (3) Health care facilities.
If your loved ones are not named in a Health Care Power of Attorney, they may be denied access to your doctors and medical records. They also may run into legal roadblocks that prevent them from making decisions regarding your medical treatment and medication, living arrangements (nursing home or rehabilitation facility), hiring and firing of doctors, and hospital visitation access.
What happens if you do not have a Designated Health Care Surrogate?
Without a Health Care Power of Attorney, the State of Florida will provide one for you and the Court will appoint someone you don’t know to make all your essential health care decisions.
What are YOUR wishes if you were terminally ill or on life support?
A Living Will, or Advance Health Care Directive, is a legal document that makes known your health care wishes regarding life-sustaining care such as food, hydration or ventilators. A Living Will is generally used when a doctor decides that you are incapacitated and terminally ill, are in a persistent vegetative state or end-stage condition.
The absence of a Living Will places emotional stress on loved ones if you have an incurable or irreversible condition that will result in death. The importance of having a Living Will was demonstrated in the famous case of Terri Schiavo. If she had a Living Will, the delay and litigious nature of her death could have been avoided.
Who do YOU want to pay your bills if you were unable to?
A Financial Power of Attorney, or Durable General Power of Attorney, is a legal document appointing another person as your ‘Agent’ to handle your business and financial affairs … while you are still alive but unable to do so because you are incapacitated, or are unavailable.
For confidentiality reasons, banks, financial institutions, investment companies, and other third parties will only disclose personal financial information to their customers or their legal “Agents.” They will not allow financial transactions to be made by your loved ones, such as bill paying, if you have not named your loved one as your Financial Power of Attorney.
What’s the difference between an “Agent” and a “Personal Representative”?
The powers of an “Agent” (the one who has Financial Power of Attorney) end when you pass away. A “Personal Representative” (person named in your Will to handle your affairs) powers begin when you pass away and your Will has been accepted by the Court.
What happens if you do not have a Financial Power of Attorney?
Without a Financial Power of Attorney, the State of Florida will provide one for you and the Court will appoint someone you don’t know to make all your essential financial decisions and manage your assets.
Who do YOU want to inherit your Assets?
A Last Will and Testament is a legal document specifying who receives your assets (i.e. your beneficiaries) and who will serve as your personal representative (your executor) for administering your estate …. AFTER your death. A Will usually requires a Probate-court proceeding after your death.
What happens without a Last Will and Testament?
Sadly, 55% of adults do not have a Will. Without a Will, the State of Florida will provide one for you and all your assets will be distributed under the State of Florida’s intestacy laws. Your assets may not go to the people whom you intended. These laws are particularly inadequate if you wish to leave assets to a charity, friend, or to a life partner.
Have Questions?
Whether you are creating a new plan or updating an existing one, call at to discuss your estate planning goals and next steps.
