What happens to your bank accounts, your mortgage payments, and your medical bills the moment a stroke, a car accident, or a diagnosis like Alzheimer’s leaves you unable to speak for yourself? For many families across Rockland County, that question goes unanswered until it is too late, and by then the options left on the table are far more limited and far more expensive.
A Disability Can Freeze Your Entire Plan
I have represented families throughout New City, Nyack, and Spring Valley who assumed their estate plan was complete because they had signed a will. A will only controls what happens after death. It does nothing while you are alive but incapacitated. Without a valid Power of Attorney, no one, not even a spouse, has automatic legal authority to pay your bills, manage your investments, refinance your mortgage, or sell your home if you become disabled. Bank accounts can be frozen at the exact moment your family needs access to them most, simply because no one has the legal standing to act.
Guardianship Is Expensive and Slow
When there is no Power of Attorney on file, the only remaining option is often a guardianship proceeding in the Rockland County Surrogate’s Court. This process requires hiring an attorney, filing a petition, and attending a hearing before a judge appoints someone to manage your affairs. Court-appointed guardians must also file regular accountings with the court, adding ongoing legal costs long after the case ends. Meanwhile, mortgage payments can lapse, medical bills go unpaid, and family members are left arguing over who should be in charge.
A Power of Attorney Protects Your Wishes, Not Just Your Assets
That is why I advise every client I meet with in Rockland County to execute a durable Power of Attorney alongside their will. This document lets you name, in advance, the person you trust to step into your shoes financially if you cannot act for yourself. It can authorize that person to manage bank accounts, handle real estate, file taxes, and deal with insurance companies before a crisis forces the issue. I have written more on how a disability can quietly unravel an otherwise solid estate plan, including the specific powers your document should include.
Rockland Families Should Not Wait for a Crisis
Whether you live in Suffern, Pearl River, or anywhere else in Rockland County, the time to sign a Power of Attorney is while you are healthy and can make clear decisions. Waiting until after a diagnosis or an accident can mean the document is challenged, or that it is too late to sign at all, forcing your family into the very guardianship process a Power of Attorney is meant to avoid. A single afternoon now can spare your family months of court proceedings later.
If your loved one became incapacitated without a Power of Attorney in place, contact Roman Aminov today for a free phone consultation.
Contributed by Dan Rose, a local business writer specializing in Estate Law services in New York City.
Roman Aminov Estate Law firm of Queens
147-17 Union Tpke, Kew Gardens Hills, NY 11367, United States
P59P+93 Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, NY, USA
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