There’s a misconception with spouses that while so long as we are spouses, we can take care of each other’s … whatever needs to be done, and that’s not the case. If you’re a joint owner with your spouse on a bank account, then yeah, you can get at that money because you’re part owner. But there are a lot of things that just because you’re a spouse, doesn’t mean you can handle for the other one. Such as, if you have IRAs, any kind of retirement plans, those are usually individually owned. If you need to sell real property, and your spouse is incapacitated, you can’t sell that property unless you have a durable power of attorney. So I tell my clients, it’s always, in my opinion, essential to have a durable power of attorney, regardless of whether you have a spouse or not.
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