Several times a month we get calls from someone who is distraught over the sudden disability of a loved one.  Someone needs to take over control of the loved one's bank accounts, business, and the like.  The bank has said that a "power of attorney" is needed to access the disabled person's bank accounts.  And the bank is right.  But the bank fails to explain that the power of attorney needs to be signed by the account holder when the account holder is lucid.  So, when the family needs the power of attorney, it's too late to get one.  Instead, we are forced to go to court to have a conservator (and maybe a guardian) appointed for the disabled person.  This takes time.  We usually cannot get a conservator appointed in less than two weeks and it often takes two months.

So, that's why we call it estate planning and not reacting.  It costs less in terms of time, money and heartbreak to get these plans in place than it costs to go to court when a crisis occurs. 

Lecture over for today.