

The principal should appoint an individual who is close to them, who knows their values, and, more importantly, who will take these values into consideration when making any health care choices for the principal.

A health care agent will gain power only if the principal becomes incapacitated that is, should they at any point be incapable of making important medical decisions for themselves. The execution of a Health Care Proxy involves the appointment of a health care agent, a person who will make medical decisions on behalf of a principal (individual executing the document). Every person, estate, and situation is unique therefore, we highly suggest that everyone retain legal counsel before executing these estate planning documents.
#Basic estate planning checklist how to
The following steps provide instructions on how to carry out each estate planning task. This checklist covers important topics such as the selected of a health care and financial agent (through execution of a Health Care Proxy and Durable Power of Attorney), and the drafting of a Last Will and Testament or a Revocable Living Trust. There are many tasks to be accomplished and documents to be executed to ensure a person’s estate is taken care of after they die or if they are unable to make decisions for themselves. A New York estate planning checklist is a step-by-step guideline to the estate planning process.
