Planning ahead is one of the most effective ways to protect your finances, your wishes, and your family as you age. A clear elder law roadmap helps ensure that the right people are empowered to act on your behalf and that important decisions are made before a crisis occurs. Understanding how to organize financial authority and long-term planning documents is a key step toward peace of mind.

My standard response to this request is that my practice is not set up to handle such work. I recommend to the client that she choose someone else whom she knows and trusts. Giving someone the authority to make financial decisions is not an action a person should take lightly.

Typically, when addressing the question – Who should serve as my agent under my power of attorney? – I think of the question from the perspective of the client. “Do you have any children?” I’ll ask. “How about a brother or sister with whom you feel comfortable?”

But what about the person you’re choosing. When the client is asking the lawyer to draft her power of attorney, the prospective agent is rarely in the room. Yet, the agent will have to become fairly intimately involved with the client’s life. Does the unknowing agent even want to take on that task?

For instance, assume that you are in the hospital and that you’ve chosen a friend to serve as the agent under your power of attorney. Your household bills must be paid. Your hospital and doctors’ bills must be paid. Does your friend know how much you have in the bank? Does she know what bank, or banks, you have your money at? What about stocks, bonds. What bills do you typically pay in a given month and how much do you pay?

Would you want to do this for someone else, day-in and day-out? As the agent, do you ask the person who named you as her agent for a key to her house and start opening her mail in order to investigate her finances? Remember, the person who named you as her agent is in the hospital. She may have been confused before she came to the hospital (perhaps she wasn’t eating properly and was dehydrated). How well do you, the agent, know her? Is she going to accuse you of mishandling her affairs or of stealing something during your scavenger hunt through the house?

Serving as an agent is a serious business. Because of questions such as the ones that I have posed above, when you are having a lawyer draft a power of attorney for you, you should think very carefully about the person you choose to serve as your agent. In addition, you should make sure that your prospective agent is comfortable with her role and is willing to serve.

Finally, you should make her job easier. You should organize your finances. Keep a list of your assets – bank names, account numbers, access codes. Obviously, this information should be stored in a safe location, but your agent should know where to find the information if she needs it. You might understand your finances, but would someone else?

The more organized you are, the easier someone will find it to step into your shoes. A good plan is more than just having well-drafted documents. You need to think carefully about the people you are choosing and keep those people informed about your choice and about your affairs. At the very least, you need to provide them with a roadmap since you might not be capable of giving directions.

A thoughtful elder law plan is not just about documents—it is about clarity, preparation, and choosing the right people to act when it matters most. Taking the time to create a roadmap now can help prevent confusion and conflict later.