“Mind”ing Your Business: Estate Planning Documents and the Levels of Capacity Required for Execution

Explores the various documents used in pre-death and post-death estate planning and what level of capacity is necessary to execute such documents. Documents such as powers of attorney for health care and durable powers of attorney are the most common documents utilized in pre-death estate planning. Post-death estate planning includes wills and trusts. Clients that execute these documents with the assistance of a probate attorney ensure that their life can continue as they would want even if dementia affects them at a later date. These documents place the management of their body and estate in their control as opposed to a court-controlled management program in the form of a guardianship. If a person is in the early stages of dementia, estate planning may still be possible depending upon the type of dementia a person has and what type of documents are being considered for signing.