Free No-Frills Estate Planning

Piedmont Injury Law is providing this service to help people deal with the uncertainty the COVID-19 outbreak is causing. We are offering this service completely free of charge, to make sure anybody who wants to have a basic, no-frills will, durable power of attorney, and advance directive for healthcare can have one, and to help people take back some control while the world is feeling out of control.

We are confident this epidemic will fade away before too long, but in the meantime we are glad to be able to provide this service to take away at least some of the uncertainty people are feeling.

Please note that we are a personal injury law firm, and not an estate-planning law firm. The documents we are offering are not a customized estate plan, and are not appropriate for anybody with complex estate planning needs. These documents are simple and standardized and perform a few basic functions. Your input will determine the details of how these documents function, but we will not be able to advise you on what choices are best for you.

What these documents will allow you to do:

Last Will and Testament:

• Provide a limited number of specific gifts of property to persons of your choosing;
• If you are married, leave the remainder of your estate to your spouse;
• Designate who will receive the remainder of your estate if you are not married or if your spouse dies before you do;
• Specify who will be the guardian for any minor children, if you have any;
• Provide general instructions for your funeral.

Durable Power of Attorney:

• Provide one person – your spouse, if you are married – with the legal authority to manage your affairs, if you ever become disabled and incapable of managing them yourself;
• Designate an alternate person to have that authority if your first choice is unable or unwilling to serve;
• Give these designations effect only if you become incapacitated, for so long as you are incapacitated. The power of attorney will terminate if and when you recover, but will also terminate if you die.

Advance Directive for Healthcare:

• Allow you to appoint an agent to make healthcare decisions for you if you are incapable of making those decisions for yourself;
• Document certain treatment preferences and give guidance to your agent;
• Nominate your agent to be your guardian, if you ever need to have a guardian appointed.