How do I get power of attorney for my parents?

In Indiana, a power of attorney is a simple document that most any lawyer can likely draft for you for a flat rate. I would suggest you contact a local estate planning attorney and put them in touch with your parents. They can also discuss their will with that attorney at that time.

Your parents should make an appointment to meet with an attorney. That attorney can assist your parents with drafting durable powers of attorney, Wills, advance directives, etc.

If your parents are competent they can each execute durable powers of attorney. These are written documents and generally they are separate, one relating to healthcare issues and another relating to financial matters. An estate planning attorney can assist you with this process but will have to meet directly with them and they will have to sign the documents. If your parents are incapacitated, your alternative method is to have a court proceeding to determine their incapacity and to grant you the power to exercise these powers over them. Those powers dealing with their medical and personal care issues are encompassed in a guardianship proceeding. Those dealing with the management of their assets are encompassed in a conservatorship proceeding. The durable powers of attorney are the non-judicial equivalent of these proceedings that are handled by the probate courts. Again, if your parents are competent, they can make a will. They need to understand generally what they have in property and understand to whom they want it to belong to at their death. Depending on the amount and value of their property they may also want to consider establishing a trust and putting their assets into the trust. This could let them avoid probate at the time of the death of the surviving parent. It is likely that you will need the assistance of an attorney for them to accomplish these things.

If you want things handled properly and efficiently without causing future problems and legal issues and additional expense then you want to hire an attorney to draft a complete estate plan for your parents which includes all of these important legal documents.

They should see a lawyer. Estate planning should be done carefully by a person knowledgeable about the issues. An experienced lawyer can make the process easy and it is not necessarily expensive. In order to keep cost down, be prepared with information about your parents' assets who is in the family and should inherit something, and whether any specific gifts should be included (such as a Tiffany lamp to niece who collects them).

All of this can be accomplished with the help of an estate planning attorney. If you'd like to be proactive about it, rather than wait for your parents to do the job, scout around for potential estate planners to help and introduce them to your mother and father. The attorney will want and need to visit with your parents to learn precisely what they want. After that, the attorney can prepare the appropriate documents and help your parents execute them.

Set up a meeting with a lawyer. Drawing up a proper will, health care directive, power of attorney and related documents is very inexpensive.