When making plans for the future, there are a lot of things to consider. One of them is what would happen in the event that a Colorado resident is no longer able able to make decisions on his or her own behalf. There are estate-planning documents that can help with respect to health and care coordiantion, as well as financial matters should that occur.
A power of attorney allows you to appoint someone you trust to take over making decisions for you if you no longer can do so on your own. There are generally two types of powers of attorney here in Colorado. The first allows your agent, the person you appoint, to handle your financial matters. The other gives your agent the right to make health care and medical decisions for you.
You can give your agent or agents broad or limited powers depending on how comfortable you are. Some only allow your agent to act in particular circumstances while others allow that person to sell property, open and close accounts and more. You can give your agent access to your medical records and doctors in order to better make choices on your behalf. You can also specify that your agent can only act after your doctor verifies that you are incapacitated.
It can be a bit daunting to give a person this kind of control over your life. However, if properly worded, you can rest assured that this control would only be given when you are incapacitated. If you should recover and once again be able to make your own decisions, then your agent would cease to act. It would be a good idea to discuss the issue first in order to understand how and when your agent or agents would be authorized to act as you plan this and other care coordination for yourself.