Dual Residence Will
Hello, If you have a dual residence (UT and CA) do you need to have 2 wills and Power of Attorney paperwork? Can Utah forms for Will and Power of Attomey be notorized in CA? One other quick question. Can the designated Special Power of Attorney (for health matters) overrule Health Care Instructions designated in a living will?
Thank you!
Re: Dual Residence Will
You should only have one will, regardless of your residency. It’s format should conform to both states, so that if probate is opened in both states it is recognized. (However, it is usually better to have a trust, which does not require any probate if set up properly.)
Your forms can be notarized in any state.
The Special Power of Attorney for health care matters is only valid if you are unconscious or incompetent. The living will is valid while you are conscious and/or competent. The documents supplement each other, and do not “over-ride” each other.
I infer that you are using a packaged will program. You should be very careful since these documents are generally NOT prepared by an attorney, the preparers are practicing law without a license, which is a crime. A non-attorney may or may not do a good job for you, however, if he/she does not do the estate planning properly, neither you nor your heirs have any recourse.
You should have your estate plan reviewed by an attorney who is familiar with your personal facts and situation. A letter from an attorney who endorses the plan without meeting with you is not sufficient, and is in itself inappropriate.
Your estate plan is very critical. Once you die it is very expensive and hard to correct errors, omissions, or other problems. It is a lot cheaper to do your estate planning with an attorney rather than using one of the canned programs out there.
If I mis-inferred, and you are using an attorney, he/she should have answered all of these questions for you.
Alvin Lundgren
Alvin R. Lundgren, L.C.
5015 W. Old Hwy 30 Ste 200
Mt. Green, UT 84050-9752