Legal Regulations: This set of seven documents outlines the legal framework.
Ensuring the Future: Seven Crucial Legal Documents for Personal Comprehensive Preparedness
Many individuals neglect vital paperwork, yet for legal preparedness documents, such omission can be perilous. These documents enable one to clearly express wishes regarding health, property, and inheritance matters, especially in the event of incapacity due to illness or accident, or upon death.
Everyone should prepare certain essential documents based on their specific life circumstances. To gain clarity, seek advice from notaries, inheritance lawyers, and consumer centers. Discover the seven critical preparedness documents below:
1. Last Will and Testament
Dietmar Kurze, a specialist lawyer for inheritance law, strongly advises having a last will and testament as early as possible. A will can be handwritten or created by a notary. It is essential that a handwritten will is written and signed by hand to be considered valid, while a notarized will must be officially authenticated.
A notarized will offers the advantage of providing a clear and unambiguous record of the testator's wishes, thus reducing ambiguities during inheritance proceedings. If a deceased person does not have a will, the law of succession applies, but such assumptions may not reflect the individual's true wishes.
Guide to Drafting a Handwritten Will
If there's no will, the law of succession could lead to misunderstandings. It may surprise many couples that a common residence belongs to the surviving spouse alone after the death of one spouse. However, under the law of succession, other individuals also become beneficiaries and must be considered.
2. Inheritance Contract
An inheritance contract, unlike a will, is formed through contract and requires the agreement of at least two parties, such as unmarried couples, siblings, or business partners seeking a clear succession plan for their company. An inheritance contract must always be notarized.
Guide to ntv Service Care, Burial, Will: Addressing Sensitive Topics
Provisions for succession stipulated in an inheritance contract can only be changed with both parties' consent. Given its binding nature, this feature can help to honor a deceased's wishes regarding the estate.
3. Patient Directive
By creating a patient directive, individuals can specify their preferred medical or nursing care should they become unable to communicate or make decisions following an accident or stroke. As precision is crucial, vague statements in a patient directive may be found invalid per a decision by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH; Az: XII 61/16).
Online patient directive platforms provided by consumer centers may be used to create a patient directive. Simply fill out the document with a handwritten signature for validation.
4. Power of Attorney for Care
By granting power of attorney for care, one can appoint trusted persons to act on their behalf and make decisions concerning business and/or incapacity matters. Although not mandatory to be notarized, if power of attorney for care is meant to authorize real estate transactions, it must be officially certified and notarized.
5. General Power of Attorney
A General Power of Attorney enables caregivers to grant their attorneys-in-fact broad authority to represent them in almost all legal and financial matters, particularly valuable for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs should consider issuing an Entrepreneur Power of Attorney early on, to prevent potential damage to the business after their death, such as bankruptcy.
Online templates for General Powers of Attorney are readily available, but complex matters such as business backgrounds may require legal advice.
6. Guardianship Directive
Through a guardianship directive, caregivers specify whom the guardianship court should appoint as guardian in the event of guardianship (e.g., dementia). Usually, trusted individuals such as spouses or relatives are chosen as guardians. Estate planning advice is advisable for complex family dynamics.
7. Organ Donor Card
Individuals planning to donate organs after death can indicate their intention in a patient's decree and/or power of attorney. An additional organ donor card is unnecessary, but unique cards can be obtained from medical facilities, pharmacies, or online via organspende-info.de.
References: ntv.de, Sabine Meuter, dpa
- Legal issues
- Consumer centers
- Patient's decree
In the pursuit of personal comprehensive preparedness, it is essential to consider not only legal documents but also health-related policies, especially since many individuals may overlook their future health needs. A community policy on health and wellness should address mental health, including access to various therapies and treatments.
Moreover, health policy must include a clear directive for patients regarding their preferred medical care should they become incapacitated. This health policy should be carefully crafted to avoid vague statements, ensuring precision and validity as per the Federal Court of Justice (BGH; Az: XII 61/16).
