Hospital Visit Lawyers For Wills

Hospital visit lawyers for wills, enduring powers of attorney and personal directives are sometimes hard to find. The lawyer has to prepare all the documents and make a trip out of the office to the hospital to sign the will. If there are any changes that need to be made, then the lawyer will have to make another hospital visit to sign the revised will.

At Kahane Law Office, we recognize the importance of having a will, enduring power of attorney and personal directive. We also recognize it is especially important when you are in the hospital. Our hospital visit lawyers are ready to help when you need us. Usually a person needs a lawyer to visit a hospital when someone is suddenly very ill, about to undergo a procedure or when they receive an unfavorable diagnosis. We understand that at times, you will need documents and a lawyer attending at the hospital on a rush basis.

The Importance of Wills & Estates Documents When Someone is in the Hospital

Wills & estates documents are extremely important. Many would argue that they are the best example of “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. The

importance of these documents can be even greater when a person is in a hospital as there are generally serious health concerns at the root of the reason for them being in the hospital. Hospital visit lawyers know this importance. A client can literally save thousands of dollars and months of aggravation by having these documents in place. Click on the following links to learn the specific reasons why Wills, Enduring Powers of Attorney and Personal Directives are so important. Our wills hospital visit lawyers also have a will, enduring power of attorney and personal directive video explaining them.

How Hospital Visit Lawyers Work

When lawyers visit a hospital to have a client sign a will, enduring power of attorney or personal directive, they must be sure of several things. Prior to visiting the hospital, the lawyer must be sure that:

• The client has capacity;
• The instructions for drafting the will, enduring power of attorney and/or personal directive are the client’s and not a family member’s;
• The drafted documents to be signed by the hospital visit lawyer and the client are done correctly the first time to avoid a second hospital visit.

Client Capacity When Lawyers Visit Hospitals

Before a lawyer travels to a hospital to have a client sign paperwork, the lawyer must know that the client has capacity. It is in the client’s (and their family’s) best interest to ensure capacity before the lawyer even begins drafting a will, enduring power of attorney or personal directive.

What is Client Capacity?

Client capacity with respect to a will, enduring power of attorney or personal directive means that the client whom a hospital visit lawyer will meet with understands the nature and effect of the document(s) being signed. A person’s physical ability to sign documents when in the hospital is not an issue as long as they can communicate. If you have concerns, call our hospital visit lawyers today.

What if there are Questions of Capacity in Hospital?

If there is any question of capacity, our lawyers will require a letter from the hospital or one of the client’s doctors stating that they do have capacity. Our lawyers are not able to sign documents with someone if there is a question of capacity.  Due to this, it is important to get this letter prior to the lawyer visiting the hospital. Mental state, health issues, medications and pain are all issues that can affect capacity.

Getting Instructions For Wills When in Hospital

As most hospital visits are needed on a rush basis, we have devised the following procedure for getting client instructions. We will usually send an email to a friend or family member of the person in the hospital. They will fill out a checklist with the client and then send it back to us. We will then draft and come to the hospital to sign the documents. It is VERY IMPORTANT that the instructions that are emailed to us reflect the wishes of the person in the hospital. Our hospital visit lawyers will have to confirm each aspect of the instructions just prior to signing. No family member can be present while we take these instructions at the hospital nor while they are being signed. This is for the protection of our client and will help prevent a claim that the instructions and documents were not valid.

Contact Our Hospital Visit Lawyers in Calgary