NEVER TOO YOUNG TO PLAN [2010-02-12]
William T. Bonham
Actual Case
I have had telephone calls this week from two distraught fathers. Both had sons involved in accidents. One son was in a one-car alcohol-related automobile accident that has left him incapacitated, perhaps permanently. The second son was involved in a work-related accident.
The first son is a divorced business owner in his late 30s. He has two minor children. The second son is 19, not married, and also has two children. The 19 year old is in the gravest condition. He was crushed and did not breathe for between six and ten minutes. Both are still unconscious.
Both sons have historically taken responsibility to care financially and physically for their children. The problem is that nobody, in either case, now has authority to handle their financial affairs. My advice was the same to each father:
- Wait for a couple of days to see if you can avoid the expense of a guardianship. See if their son heals to the point where he regains competence and can sign his name. If he improves, he can sign a durable power of attorney, power of attorney for health care and living will. After the son signs, someone will have the power to handle his financial affairs and make his health care decisions. A couple of days of waiting should not make a difference to creditors.
- While waiting, I recommended that we lay the groundwork for a guardianship if the son does not recover sufficiently. Specifically, I asked each father to have their son’s attending physician complete a statement of expert evaluation for the Probate Court. If it looks like there is no improvement, we will start guardianship proceedings.
From a planning standpoint, the predicament that each of these young men are facing is completely avoidable. At a minimum, each son should have had a will nominating guardians for their minor children. At the same time, they could have executed a durable power of attorney, power of attorney for health care and living will. Instead, this nightmare of every parent is compounded by the stress of seeing that each son’s financial obligations are met.
None of us is invincible. Accidents happen everyday. If you are an adult, you should be making the proper preparations.
If you need to talk with someone about a situation like this or if you simply need help with a guardianship, estate planning, or estate admininstration contact the attorneys at Mularski, Bonham, Dittmer, & Phillips, LLC. at (614) 478-8020!