A Notary is an official public officer that can legally attest a signature to a document giving it the utmost authenticity. By having a signature from a notary, your Living Will will not be questioned in the event there is conflict. In most states, a signature from a notary public is required in order for your Living Will to be valid. It is not difficult nor expensive to obtain a signature from a notary public, as most banks will do it for free. Be sure to have signatures from all parties including yourself before bringing it to a notary public.
The authenticity of a will is determined through a legal process known as probate. Probate is the first step taken in administering the estate of a deceased person and distributing assets to the beneficiaries. When an individual dies, the custodian of the will must take the will to the probate court or to the executor named in the will within 30 days of the death of the testator.

A variation of identity theft which has recently become more common is synthetic identity theft, in which identities are completely or partially fabricated.[14] The most common technique involves combining a real social security number with a name and birthdate other than the ones associated with the number. Synthetic identity theft is more difficult to track as it doesn't show on either person's credit report directly but may appear as an entirely new file in the credit bureau or as a subfile on one of the victim's credit reports. Synthetic identity theft primarily harms the creditors who unwittingly grant the fraudsters credit. Individual victims can be affected if their names become confused with the synthetic identities, or if negative information in their subfiles impacts their credit ratings.[15]
A Living Will, also known as a “health care directive”, allows a person to state their end-of-life medical treatment and care. This document does not hold any bearings after death, it solely directs physicians to care for a person based on what is stated in their Living Will, especially with issues such as DNR (do not resuscitate). Without this document, it’s difficult to judge an ill or incapacitated person’s end-of-life wishes.
Everyone commits an offence who knowingly obtains or possesses another person's identity information in circumstances giving rise to a reasonable inference that the information is intended to be used to commit an indictable offence that includes fraud, deceit or falsehood as an element of the offence. is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term of not more than five years; or is guilty of an offence punishable on summary conviction.
Using a business’s name to obtain credit or even billing those businesses’ clients for products and services represents a big risk, particular to small business or sole proprietorships. Because new businesses sometimes need to overlap between business and personal, this type of fraud can impact budding entrepreneurs both personally and professionally. Worse, the perpetrators who commit business identity theft are often insiders — current or ex-employees — with direct access to operational documentation, who pad the books in favor of their scheming.
A power of attorney can last, notwithstanding the incapacity of the donor, only if it is a lasting power of attorney: this is a separate and quite different type of power, which must be in a prescribed form, and, to be valid, once signed and witnessed must also be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian.[citation needed] This new type of power of attorney was introduced in 2007 under the Mental Capacity Act 2005. It replaces the former enduring power of attorney, although enduring powers correctly made before the law changed remain valid. Enduring powers were very different, as they only needed to be registered if the donor later lost capacity.
If you desire to have more control over your medical treatment in the event you are unable to make them for yourself, you will need to create a medical power of attorney. Just like a Living Will, you will need to select an agent who will behold your medical wishes and makes certain that those wishes are carried out successfully. Completing both a living will and a medical power of attorney form are recommended.

Philippines, which ranks eighth in the numbers of users of Facebook and other social networking sites such as Twitter, Multiply and Tumblr, has been known as source of various identity theft problems.[46] Identities of those people who carelessly put personal information on their profiles can easily be stolen just by simple browsing. There are people who meet online, get to know each other through the free Facebook chat and exchange of messages that then leads to sharing of private information. Others get romantically involved with their online friends that they tend to give too much information such as their social security number, bank account and even personal basic information such as home address and company address.
The Texas motor vehicle power of attorney form, also known as VTR-271, allows a person who owns a vehicle located in Texas to transfer its ownership through the use of an agent he or she selects. The person chosen must sell the vehicle in the best interests of the principal and should forward all sale proceeds to the principal. When completing the form, an accurate…
Two types of acts may be incorporated by a simple reference to the statutes in the power of attorney – the “authority to conduct banking transactions as provided in Section 709.2208(1), Florida Statutes” and the “authority to conduct investment transactions as provided in Section 709.2208(2), Florida Statutes.” When either of these phrases is included in the power of attorney, all of the acts authorized by the referenced statute may be performed by the agent even though the specific acts are not listed in the power of attorney itself.
There are several identify theft protection services that help people avoid and mitigate the effects of identity theft. Typically, such services provide information helping people to safeguard their personal information; monitor public records, as well as private records such as credit reports, to alert their clients of certain transactions and status changes; and provide assistance to victims to help them resolve problems associated with identity theft.
"The best people to turn to are those who have seen many iterations of living wills and have seen what works and what doesn't work. In other words, estate planners and doctors are in the best position to help you think through your choices and to understand how those choices could play out in real life," says Kimberly Hanlon, an attorney for Lucēre Legal LLC, a small business and estate law firm in Minneapolis.
In a widely publicized account,[79] Michelle Brown, a victim of identity fraud, testified before a U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on Identity Theft. Ms. Brown testified that: "over a year and a half from January 1998 through July 1999, one individual impersonated me to procure over $50,000 in goods and services. Not only did she damage my credit, but she escalated her crimes to a level that I never truly expected: she engaged in drug trafficking. The crime resulted in my erroneous arrest record, a warrant out for my arrest, and eventually, a prison record when she was booked under my name as an inmate in the Chicago Federal Prison."
In the United Kingdom, the Home Office reported that identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.2 billion annually[81] (experts believe that the real figure could be much higher)[82] although privacy groups object to the validity of these numbers, arguing that they are being used by the government to push for introduction of national ID cards. Confusion over exactly what constitutes identity theft has led to claims that statistics may be exaggerated.[83] An extensively reported[84][85] study from Microsoft Research[86] in 2011 finds that estimates of identity theft losses contain enormous exaggerations, writing that surveys "are so compromised and biased that no faith whatever can be placed in their findings."
Not only are children in general big targets of identity theft but children who are in foster care are even bigger targets. This is because they are most likely moved around quite frequently and their SSN is being shared with multiple people and agencies. Foster children are even more victims of identity theft within their own family and other relatives. Young people in foster care who are victims of this crime are usually left alone to struggle and figure out how to fix their newly formed bad credit.[21]
A power of attorney must be signed by the principal and by two witnesses to the principal’s signature, and a notary must acknowledge the principal’s signature for the power of attorney to be properly executed and valid under Florida law. There are exceptions for military powers of attorney and for powers of attorney created under the laws of another state.
The power of attorney is effective as soon as the principal signs it. However, a durable power of attorney executed before Oct. 1, 2011, that is contingent on the incapacity of the principal (sometimes called a “springing” power) remains valid but is not effective until the principal’s incapacity has been certified by a physician. Springing powers of attorney may not have been created after Sept. 30, 2011.
While identity theft can happen to anyone, there are some things you can do to reduce your risk. If you think someone is using your personal information to open accounts, file taxes, or make purchases, visit IdentityTheft.gov to report and recover from identity theft. Looking for identity theft resources to share in your community? Visit ftc.gov/idtheft.
The Texas Power of Attorney Act, which is contained in Chapter 7 of the Texas Probate Code,[1] allows a resident to transfer financial and health care decision-making powers to another individual. Powers of attorney are very useful for anyone to have in place, no matter what one's age might be. The reality is that events can occur suddenly that make an individual unable to make certain decisions on their own. A power of attorney allows another person, who has been chosen in advance by the individual, to make those decisions for them.
A Living Will is a document used to describe how medical decisions should be made when certain health-related issues arise, especially when a person is dealing with a life-threatening condition. For example, should a person remain on life support if they have fallen into an irreversible vegetative state? That question can easily be answered by having a Living Will, as it will clearly state whether or not that person wishes to resume on life support in that situation.
As a result, the individual has a lower effective cost of giving, which provides additional incentive to make those gifts. And of course, an individual may wish to make charitable contributions to a variety of causes. Estate planners can work with the donor in order to reduce taxable income as a result of those contributions, or formulate strategies that maximize the effect of those donations.
Yes. Agents must meet certain standards of care when performing their duties. An agent is looked upon as a “fiduciary” under the law. A fiduciary relationship is one of trust. If the agent violates this trust, the law may punish the agent both civilly (by ordering the payment of restitution and punishment money) and criminally (probation or jail). The standards of care that apply to agents are discussed under “Financial Management and the Liability of an Agent.”
While the power of attorney gives the agent authority to act on behalf of the principal, an agent is not required to serve. An agent may have a moral or other obligation to take on the responsibilities associated with the power of attorney, but the power of attorney does not create an obligation to assume the duties. However, once an agent takes on a responsibility, there is a duty to act prudently. (See “Financial Management and the Liability of an Agent.”)

This phenomenon lead to the creation of Senate Bill 52: Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2010.[47] Section 2 of this bill states that it recognizes the importance of communication and multimedia for the development, exploitation and dissemination of information but violators will be punished by the law through imprisonment or a fine upwards of Php200,000, but not exceeding 1 million, or depending on the damage caused, or both (Section 7).
Find someone you trust. It is difficult to choose just anyone to act for you as your agent. With respect to your finances, you want to make sure that the person you choose is someone is responsible and disciplined enough to handle all matters related to your financial affairs. Likewise, with respect to healthcare decisions, you need to choose a person who is aware of your wishes concerning your healthcare and who will make the appropriate decisions based on those wishes if you are unable to do so.
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