It can be very important to have good incapacity planning documents in place *before* you need them.

It can be too late to do such documents, or to update such documents, if you wait until the time you actually need them, if you are no longer competent at that point.

Good incapacity planning documents can allow others to later help you manage your health care, save money from Medicaid (in some cases), determine who will (and who will not) be appointed as a guardian or a conservator if you ever need a protective proceeding, and even determine who can make funeral arrangements for you.

Some documents can be done later than other documents. Surprisingly, the standard of capacity to do a Will or a Trust can be lower than the standard of capacity needed to create a Power of Attorney.

Some trusts may trap assets and require at least half of the assets held in trust to be spent for health care when this could be avoided, with Medicaid stepping in earlier, and assets being saved for a Well Spouse, if these trusts are re-written to change certain provisions.

Many powers of attorney similarly may lack the provisions necessary to transfer assets to a spouse, when these assets could be saved for that Well Spouse if the Ill Spouse ever needs to apply for Medicaid. Without certain provisions in a power of attorney, in many cases these transfers cannot be made using the power of attorney, and the assets may be lost to Medicaid. In other cases the transfers can sometimes be made even without provisions that could have been placed in a power of attorney, but only after the time and expense necessary to obtain a conservatorship, and success in persuading a court that these transfers really are appropriate.

Well done trusts can often make the appointment of a conservator unnecessary, even if a person becomes unable to manage their own finances. Badly done trusts can force the use of assets to pay for health care of an Ill Spouse, when the money could have been used for the benefit of a Well Spouse if the trust had different provisions. Advance Directives for Health Care can also be very useful, both in naming people who will then have the power to make medical decisions for you if you are unable to make these decisions yourself, and in outlining the kinds of decisions you would want made in various circumstances.

NOTE: Incapacity Planning matters are very complex matters. The above address only a very few of the issues which may be of relevance in these matters, and should not be considered legal advice, nor should the above be taken as a statement of the only time that one might benefit from consulting a legal or other professional.