Check with an attorney in your state, but that’s not a will. Generally, powers of attorney terminate at death.
IANAL.
- A power of attorney and a will are two very different things.
- “Looks like a will” means jack shit, but you already know that, right?
- The power of attorney (I’ll add “almost certainly” here because I am not a lawyer, but I’m pretty certain) almost certainly does not allow you to sign a will on her behalf, if that is what you are considering.
You might look into “small estate” provisions in your state. If she is not wealthy, that might cover all of your needs, depending on your state’s laws and what types of assets she owns.
If she is wealthy and has recovered enough that she can go over things with a lawyer, you might want to have her look into setting up a living trust, with you as her successor trustee. Can be useful in a lot of situations, and can really simplify things.
It’s not. A POA for property (as opposed to a POA for medical decisions) lasts as long as the individual does, and is designed to cover things like “I’m incapable of taking care of my house while I’m medically incapacitated; you do it.” Once the person’s gone, the POA is meaningless. A POA is also not an executor (though you can select the same person for both roles).
Your wife does not have a will. Get one.
TE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor;19928278]dropzone–is she OK?
{WORRIED}
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Lousy and lousy.
I am not a lawyer, but a lawyer’s son, and this appears to have some reach beyond the grave, but hell yeah, I’ll research further. Just wanted to consult with my invisible friends (her term) first.
Share more when you can. Worried about you both.
I was worried.
I replied twice. The gerbils ate both.
Reach out if you need to, seems like you are getting it from all sides. 
Hope your wife is feeling better soon.
It turns out that early on my doofuss bff told her I regretted marrying her. No, I regretted snatching her up before sowing my wild oats because I’d never do better.
A few things to consider.
Why are you doing a will? The default in most states is that spouse and descendants inherit everything. You would need a will if you don’t like the default distribution.
To create a valid will you generally need a document stating the testator’s wishes and witnesses, but laws vary from state to state. It’s best to get a lawyer to do things correctly for you. The biggest issue when it comes to wills is not proving it was executed correctly, but proving that the person creating the will was mentally sound. Some attorneys have wills executed with medical professionals as witnesses. If the will is contested, you have a powerful expert witness who will testify in your favor.
The last thing to consider is what happens if your wife doesn’t pass away, but becomes incapacitated? Another terrible but all too common situation. General solutions include getting a power of attorney (which it looks like you have) and a health care proxy. A more expensive solution is to put your spouses assets in a trust, where a trustee can control the property.
I thought I was supposed to. This dying shit is new to me.
This doesn’t sound good. Is she worse again?
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Get a will if you/she don’t like the way the state you live in handles distribution after death without a will. Some states everything goes to the spouse. Some states may have different rules. If she wants to make bequests to some people, now’s the time to say so.
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I think you can probably just go somewhere like LegalZoom and find a form for your state to do a simple will with her. You may not end up needing it now, but it’ll be over and done with and one less thing to worry about.
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Please start a different thread at some point and let us know what’s going on. We are worried. Sending all the good vibes.
Use legalzoom if you are certain the will won’t be contested in court by other family members. If you want something that will hold up in court, then go to an attorney.
^^ This.
My wife’s an (among other things) estate attorney.
Legalzoom is positively famous in the biz for creating expensive problems for people. If you’re in a crack, in a hurry, and you need to supercede an old will (say one naming an ex-husband), it’s probably better than nothing. Assuming your wife is in good enough shape to sign one knowingly.
Good luck; we’re pulling for both of you.
Good to know. Thank you.
Easy peasy. No exes. Two daughters well affianced with one in the UK and the other handy (this dump needs a handyman. No. 3 is starting to notice guys noticing her. Marry her off and Ill be able to die in peace.
What, ya wanna live forever?
Since you have a simple family situation a will may be completely unnecessary if:
A) you’re comfortable with the rules of your state for will-less estates. (“intestate succession”) and
B) you / she don’t have millions of dollars that should be specially managed with an eye to minimizing taxes.
If you’ll tell us which state you’re in we can look that up for you. That’ll take one more burden off your overloaded plate.
Illinois.
IANA lawyer, this is not legal advice, etc.
Ref here: Illinois Intestate Succession | Nolo and here: Illinois Intestacy Statute – Reda | Ciprian | Magnone
If your wife dies with no *valid *will then you as husband get 1/2 of her estate and your children share the other half equally amongst themselves.
Any assets (investment accounts, bank accounts, real estate, cars, etc.) that you own *jointly *goes directly to you first and is *not *part of the estate to be divided as above. Likewise if any accounts have had explicit “If I die, my share of this thing goes to …” arrangements made. These arrangements can easily be made on darn near any account at any financial institution. It’s a simple form. If you want/need that, ask their customer service about “transfer on death” or “payable on death” designations. Also called TOD or POD. They’ll know what to do. IRAs and 401Ks are the common example of things married people own that are not joint and benefit especially from a TOD/POD designation.
The key gotcha about a will being *valid *is that it requires the person making it to be mentally competent at the time they sign *and * for the signing to be properly witnessed. That might be an obstacle in your current situation.
My (decidedly amateur) bottom line: If substantially all your/her stuff is jointly owned or is TOD/POD to you, a will is pretty much unnecessary. You’ll get ownership of all that stuff immediately, will or no will.
OTOH, If she’s got a big bulk of separate assets in her name only with no POD/TOD to you then without a will you’ll be sharing those assets 50/50 with your kids. That might leave you short during your remaining life. Or it might not. Your call.
Good luck. I hope this simplifies your worries a bit.