^{If you have minor-aged children at home, it's important to have a will that appoints guardianship of your children. If a guardian is not appointed at the time of death, your surviving family will have to seek help in a probate court to have a guardian appointed for your children. The person appointed may not be one whom you would have wanted to be entrusted with your kids.}  
An agent is a fiduciary and as such has multiple duties when acting for the principal. These include an overriding duty to do only those acts authorized by the power of attorney, and when performing those acts to act in accordance with the principal’s reasonable expectations, to act in the principal’s best interest and to attempt to preserve the principal’s estate plan. The preservation of the estate plan is dependent on a number of factors, including the agent’s knowledge of the plan and the needs and desires of the principal. If the agent assumes responsibility for the principal’s investments, the agent has a duty to invest and manage the assets of the principal as a prudent investor. This standard requires the agent to exercise reasonable care and caution in managing the assets of the principal. The agent must apply this standard to the overall investments and not to one specific asset. An agent possessing special financial skills or expertise has an obligation to use those skills. The agent is required to keep careful records and may be required to provide an accounting. Everything the agent does for the principal should be written down, and the agent should keep all receipts and copies of all correspondence and consider logging phone calls so if the agent is questioned, records are available. Agents should consult with lawyers to be sure they understand all of the duties applicable to them.
^{Powers of attorney are a useful estate planning tool which protects a person and their property in the event they become unable to make decisions. A power of attorney grants a designated individual the ability to help the grantor with decisions. When a durable power of attorney is given, the designated individual may not only help the grantor with current decisions, they may also make decisions for the grantor on their own, should he or she become incompetent or otherwise incapacitated.}
Living wills are often used with a document called a durable power of attorney (DPOA) for healthcare. In some states, in fact, the two documents are combined into one. A DPOA appoints someone to carry out the wishes about end-of-life treatment that are written down in a living will or medical directive. The person named is called the “agent,” “healthcare proxy,” or “attorney-in-fact” of the person who makes the DPOA.

Third parties are often concerned whether the document is valid. They do not know if it was executed properly or forged. They do not know if it has been revoked. They do not know if the principal was competent at the time the power of attorney was signed. They do not know whether the principal has died. Third parties do not want liability for the improper use of the document. Some third parties refuse to honor powers of attorney because they believe they are protecting the principal from possible unscrupulous conduct. If your power of attorney is refused, talk to your attorney.

            By going through the planning process and acting today my client’s family to handle those situations, the client, and their family, can anticipate the future. What is the value of being able to avoid risks and take advantage of opportunities? May times what my fees are. So, the fees paid to me today that avoids substantial risk to yourself and your family is worth every cent.
Poor stewardship of personal data by organizations, resulting in unauthorized access to sensitive data, can expose individuals to the risk of identity theft. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse have documented over 900 individual data breaches by US companies and government agencies since January 2005, which together have involved over 200 million total records containing sensitive personal information, many containing social security numbers.[38] Poor corporate diligence standards which can result in data breaches include:

Most living wills have the option of adding a health care agent to carry out the patient’s intended wishes. This is helpful in the event that there is a gray area where maybe the agent selected feels there is a good chance for survival and will opt against a decision made in the living will. Otherwise, the Principal can choose to neglect this portion of the document and have doctors and medical staff specifically adhere to what is written in the living will.

Drugs.com provides accurate and independent information on more than 24,000 prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and natural products. This material is provided for educational purposes only and is not intended for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Data sources include IBM Watson Micromedex (updated 2 Nov 2020), Cerner Multum™ (updated 2 Nov 2020), ASHP (updated 23 Oct 2020) and others.
Let's focus on a revocable living trust for the purpose of estate transfer. Like a will, a trust will require you to transfer property after death to loved ones. It is called a living trust because it is created while the property owner, or trustor, is alive. It is revocable, as it may be changed during the life of the trustor. The trustor maintains ownership of the property held by the trust while the trustor is alive.
^{The agent should review the power of attorney document carefully to determine what authority the principal granted. After being certain that the power of attorney gives the agent the authority to act, the power of attorney (or a copy) should be taken to the third party (the bank or other institution, or person with whom the principal needs to deal). Some third parties may ask the agent to sign a document such as an affidavit, stating that the agent is acting properly. (The agent may wish to consult with a lawyer before signing such a document.) The third party should accept the power of attorney and allow the agent to act for the principal. An agent should always make it clear that documents are being signed on behalf of the principal.}

Schemes to commit identity theft or fraud may also involve violations of other statutes such as identification fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1028), credit card fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1029), computer fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1030), mail fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1341), wire fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1343), or financial institution fraud (18 U.S.C. § 1344). Each of these federal offenses are felonies that carry substantial penalties –¬ in some cases, as high as 30 years' imprisonment, fines, and criminal forfeiture.

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.
Your executor would still be responsible for sorting out the estate, which could take 6 to 18 months depending on the intricacies. Imagine your eldest child spending the next year and a half traveling back and forth to court hearings when they should be mourning your passing. It doesn’t sound fun, but it’s a possibility if you haven't left a clear and well-drawn will and/or trust documents.
A living will is a legal document, also known as an advance health care directive, that details how you want to be cared for if something unexpectedly impacts your health and you wind up on life support. A living will also forces you to answer those unthinkable questions, such as whether or not you want doctors to do everything they can to keep you alive, even if the outlook is hopeless, or give them permission to let you go if you're incapacitated.

For instance, if you own a variety of valuable items and assets, after you're gone, your will would designate who would receive your house, furniture and artwork collection. However, if you're in a coma, a living trust will assign somebody to make these choices for you. This person would be able to use your bank account to pay your bills and make financial decisions, including whether or not to sell your home. Without a living trust, those types of decisions can be made by a court.

_{Synthetic identity theft is a type of fraud in which a criminal combines real (usually stolen) and fake information to create a new identity, which is used to open fraudulent accounts and make fraudulent purchases. Synthetic identity theft allows the criminal to steal money from any credit card companies or lenders who extend credit based on the fake identity.}
There was until 2016 no legal ban specifically against using someone's identity, only on the indirect damage caused. To impersonate someone else for financial gain is a kind of fraud, which is described in the Criminal Code (Swedish: brottsbalken). To impersonate someone else to discredit someone by breaking into social media accounts and provoke, is libel, but that is hard to sentence someone for. A new law was introduced late 2016 which partially banned undetermined identity usage.[48]

When you use a will, however, after you pass away title to property passes from you to the estate and its executor. Eventually it passes to the final beneficiaries. The probate court supervises the process. If you become disabled, whoever holds your power of attorney has to present it to financial institutions and have them accept it before your assets can be managed. If there’s no power of attorney or financial institutions won’t accept it, the courts become involved.

_{Kevin Hinzman and Craig Flory formed Hinzman & Flory, PLLC in 1999, dedicating their firm to the proposition that all people deserve strong and effective legal representation. In the adversarial world of criminal law, Kevin and Craig believe it is important for their potential clients to know where they have placed their priorities as lawyers throughout their careers. Both have devoted their entire professional lives to the defense of accused, rather than their prosecution. Neither have ever worked for the Denton County District Attorney or any other prosecuting authority. For over a combined 40 years, Hinzman & Flory have defended th ... View Profile}