As a Mobile Notary in Oregon and Washington, I’m frequently scheduled to notarize important legal documents such as Powers of Attorney, Wills, Trusts and Advanced Directives (Living Will or Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare) for clients who have become very ill or who have recently become disabled. Often these clients need documents notarized in the hospital or in a long-term care facility at a time of heightened stress, anxiety and uncertainty. Facing limited time, family members feel overwhelmed with the sense of urgency and lament their family member not getting their affairs in order earlier.
Many people procrastinate or simply fail to plan for future sickness, disability or end-of-life circumstances. Yet, planning for it and getting your affairs in order now will leave you feeling relieved and secure. It will also save your family an immense amount of time and stress. And you also will have peace of mind knowing that your decisions and wishes are respected, even if you become incapacitated or pass away.
Getting affairs in order is legally arranging a framework to manage your assets and your healthcare upon death, disability or incapacity. It involves creating documents that outline your wishes including assigning people you choose to handle your financial and medical affairs if you are not able. The first step in this process is deciding between online forms or an attorney. Some of our clients hire an estate planning attorney to prepare these documents. Others choose to self-prepare documents using DIY templates available online. Whether you choose to hire an attorney or you prefer to prepare the documents yourself, the important thing is to get your affairs in order now – start today if you can. At the very least, everyone should have a financial power of attorney, a medical power of attorney and Last Will.
A good resource for online preparation of estate planning documents and getting your affairs in order is Quicken WillMaker 2023. A link to Quicken WillMaker 2023 and other online legal forms are available on the Notary of Portland home page. This product allows you to customize an estate plan including wills, living trusts, health care directives and financial powers of attorney and other essential documents. With a step-by-step guide you create a custom document tailored to your state. When completed, your documents can be downloaded and saved for future emailing or printing.
Most estate planning documents require notarization and some require additional witnesses. Notary of Portland is a professional Mobile Notary service that will travel to meet you at a time and place you choose to notarize your documents. Whether you are at home, in the hospital or anywhere else - we come to you! We can print your documents and bring them with us if you do not have access to a printer. If you need additional witnesses we can bring them to your appointment. We offer easy online scheduling of same day or future appointments at all hours and all days, 24/7 throughout the Portland metro area and SW Washington. Visit www.notaryofportland.com for more information.
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