Preparing for your future by making arrangements so that your loved ones don't have to do it for you in a hurry is a wise decision. Stéphanie Swiklinski, a notary graduate, gives us some advice.
Can signing a power of attorney make everyday life easier?
"Giving power of attorney allows you to be helped in your daily life. This mutual aid is done naturally in families. It is based on the legal concept of "business management". However, it is preferable to make it official by establishing a real power of attorney. There are two kinds of powers of attorney:
The "special" power of attorney concerns a specific transaction (for example, the sale of a property). It will therefore end when the said act has been regularized. The most common type of power of attorney is the banking power of attorney, which allows the person to assist in the day-to-day financial management.
The "general" power of attorney, on the other hand, covers the management of all the assets of the person's estate, within the limits of everyday management acts. This can be a good tool when an elderly person gives a general power of attorney to one of his or her children, in order to lighten his or her daily routine.
Beware, this can also turn into a source of family tensions if there are several children! The consultation of all the family members is more than recommended and the ideal is to call upon your notary for its drafting.
Is the future protection mandate a good option?
With the mandate of future protection for oneself, one anticipates possible future problems related to the loss of autonomy. Unlike protective measures, which are more or less restrictive (safeguard of justice, guardianship or curatorship), which can be decided by the judge, here it is you who choose to organize yourself for the future. This mandate allows you to anticipate your eventual dependence, by appointing a proxy to manage your daily life and that of your property, when the time comes. This person will be a trusted individual and not someone appointed by the judge.
You can entrust the entire mandate to a single mandatary who will see to the protection of both your person and your property. You can also dissociate the two aspects with two different mandataries. Once again, the advantage of a notarized mandate is that it allows the mandatary to perform property-related acts without the need for a judge's intervention (except in exceptional cases).
What assistance is available?
Anticipating the loss of autonomy also means adapting one's home and making it more secure. The goal is to stay in your home as long as possible. When you wish to carry out work on your home, such as installing a stair lift or an Italian shower for example, you can apply to the ANAH for financial assistance. There are also financial aids. The APA (allocation personne âgée) is the best known but not the only one. This allowance is a financial help to pay for the expenses related to the maintenance at home or a part of the care provided in EHPAD.
New technologies can also be interesting to face the loss of autonomy. Tele-assistance allows seniors living alone to feel secure by creating an alert in case of a fall, for example.
Stéphanie Swiklinski