Helping a Parent Get Mom or Dad’s Papers in Place While They Can Still Sign
For grown children helping a mother or father. You can make the first call. Your parent is the client, and your parent decides.
Find Out Where You Stand
Your first call is free, about 15 minutes, and happens by phone with Shawn.
Talk to a real person (770) 710-3422
“Can I talk to Mom’s doctors? Can I pay her bills?”
Three things you may need to do for your parent
When a parent can’t speak for themselves, someone still has to act. Here is where a family stands with nothing signed.
With no papers signed
- 1
Talk to the doctors
Without a health care directive, Georgia law has a list of family members who can agree to treatment for your parent. Your parent has not picked the one person, and their wishes aren’t in writing.
With the three papers - 2
Pay their bills
With no financial power of attorney, no one in the family has the automatic right to sign for your parent on their money and property. If your parent can no longer sign one, the family has to ask a probate court to appoint someone.
With the three papers - 3
Sign for them
A power of attorney is what gives you the legal right to deal with the bank for your parent. Being the son or daughter does not give you that right.
With the three papers
Families call us at different points. Some call the day after a hospital stay. Some call months ahead.
“Who has to be in the room when Dad signs?”
Who needs to be there when your parent signs
Your parent signs where they are: at home, at the facility, or in the hospital. You line up the notary and witnesses. Your signing instructions tell you who can be one.
| The paper | Who needs to be there |
|---|---|
| Financial power of attorney | A notary and one witness. The person your parent names to act for them can’t be either one. The notary can’t also be the witness. |
| Health care directive | Two adult witnesses. It does not need a notary. A witness can’t be the person named as health care agent, someone who will inherit from your parent, or someone directly involved in your parent’s health care. If your parent is in a hospital or care home, only one of the two witnesses can work there. |
| Medical records release | Your parent signs and dates it. The federal rule does not ask for a witness or a notary. |
“What would the papers let me do?”
What the three papers let you do
You may know these papers by other names: a durable power of attorney, an advance directive or medical power of attorney, and a HIPAA release.
With the three papers
- 1
Talk to the doctors
The health care directive lets your parent pick one person, and it puts your parent’s wishes in writing. The medical records release is your parent’s written permission for doctors and hospitals to share medical information with the people your parent names.
- 2
Pay their bills
The financial power of attorney lets the person your parent chose use your parent’s money for your parent’s care.
- 3
Sign for them
The person your parent chose can deal with the bank for them. Your parent chooses whether the power of attorney works right away, or only if a doctor says they can’t manage.
Which does your parent need?
Some families call for just the three papers. Some call for the full plan.
The three papers
A financial power of attorney, a health care directive and a medical records release. They let a person your parent chose step in.
They do not keep the family out of probate court later.
The full plan
Those three papers, plus a trust, a will, and the deed that moves the house into the trust. Your parent signs the deed.
It takes longer. Drafts come about 2 to 3 weeks after the Design Meeting.
Not sure which?
Tell us what is going on, and we will tell you. If you start with the three papers and later want the full plan, what you paid counts toward it in full.
What if my parent has dementia or Alzheimer’s, or is already slipping?
What if it is too late?
How it works
We write the three papers in about a week.
That is after Melissa talks with your parent.
Your parent signs where they are.
At home, at the facility, or in the hospital.
You can be on the calls if your parent wants you there.
So can your brothers and sisters, by phone from wherever they are.
A 15-Minute Call With Shawn
Tell us what is going on with your mom or dad. Shawn walks you through both paths and what each one costs. Free.
You Pay, and Your Parent Answers Our Questions
One flat fee. Then your parent answers our health care questions. Those are the choices that go into the health care directive.
Melissa Talks With Your Parent
By phone. Your parent chooses who to name. Then we write the three papers. That takes about a week.
Your Parent Signs
With a notary and witnesses you line up. Your signing instructions tell you who needs to be there.
Who you’ll work with
Melissa Breyer
Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
You talk with Shawn first. Melissa is the attorney, and she talks with your parent herself.
I sat in on her meeting with Melissa, and Melissa did a great job of simplifying complex legalese into easily understood concepts.
What Our Clients Say
127+ Five-Star Google Reviews
The Hive Law Firm did an excellent job helping my mother-in-law with her estate plan. The process felt overwhelming at first, but their team walked us through every step with compassion and professionalism. They listened to our concerns, explained things in simple terms, and made sure our mother’s wishes were honored. We’re very grateful for their guidance.
Reneida WilliamsGoogle Review
I lost my father in February of this year without any estate planning in place. The process of dealing with the probate court has been overwhelming and expensive. After this experience, I contacted The Hive Law to set up a trust so my children never have to go through what I’ve been through. Melissa and Shawn were compassionate, knowledgeable, and made the entire process simple. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
Rachel ShannonGoogle Review
For several years now I have been thinking about having a will drawn up, but continued to procrastinate until an older sibling had a medical situation occur which none of the family was prepared for. This was the determining factor for me to get it done. We never know when an emergency medical situation could arise and I didn’t want my other siblings to be scrambling around trying to figure things out in the event I couldn’t make any decisions for myself, or God forbid I pass away. My attorney (Melissa), was very funny and made the whole experience quite entertaining. She listened to what I wanted and explained the type of plan I needed. Thanks Melissa & Shawn for making the process an enjoyable experience.
Rena SolomonGoogle Review
What it costs
$550
The three papers are one flat fee.
- No hourly billing.
- We write the three papers in about a week, after Melissa talks with your parent.
What your parent gets
- A financial power of attorney
- A health care directive
- A medical records release
- Written signing instructionsThey tell you who needs to be there.
Our help
- A price before you payYour free first call with Shawn always gives a price.
- A call between Melissa and your parentShe talks with your parent herself before anything is written.
- Room for the family on the callsIf your parent wants you there, you can be on the calls. So can your brothers and sisters.
- Your parent decidesYour parent chooses who to name, and your parent signs.
What is not included with the three papers? A will, a trust, deed work, or a court case for guardianship or conservatorship.
Want the full plan? The Finished Trust, our complete trust package, is $3,500, one flat fee. It adds a trust, a will, and the deed that moves the house into the trust. If you start with the three papers and move up, what you paid counts toward the full plan.
See everything that’s includedCommon questions
Talk to a real person(770) 710-3422
You cannot get a power of attorney over your parent. In Georgia, only your parent can give one. Your parent signs it in front of a notary and one witness, and your parent picks who to name. You can make the first call to The Hive Law and give us the details.
You can start an estate plan for your parent, but your parent decides and signs. You can make the first call to The Hive Law and give us the details. Your parent talks with Melissa, the attorney, and chooses who to name.
You can be on The Hive Law’s calls with your parent if your parent wants you there. They are by phone, so your brothers and sisters can join from wherever they are.
Being named in your mom’s will does nothing while she is living. A will only works after death. And Mom telling you is not a power of attorney. In Georgia a power of attorney has to be in writing, and your mom has to sign it in front of a notary and one witness. A health care directive has to be in writing too, signed in front of two witnesses. Those two papers are what let you act for her.
At The Hive Law, we write the three papers (a financial power of attorney, a health care directive and a medical records release) in about a week, after Melissa talks with your parent. If your parent is in the hospital, call us at (770) 710-3422 and say so first.
Your parent does not give up control by signing a power of attorney. It lets the person your parent names act for your parent. It does not stop your parent from handling their own money. Your parent can cancel it. If they do, the agent and the bank need to be told. Your parent also picks whether it works right away, or only if a doctor says they can’t manage.
If your parent does not want to sign, no papers get signed. Your parent is the client, and it is your parent’s choice. No one else can make that choice for them.
Under Georgia law, your mom can name two or more people in a financial power of attorney. Unless the paper says they must act together, each one can act alone. She can also name a backup. The backup steps in only if the first person can’t or won’t do the job. Georgia’s health care directive form has a line for one health care agent, and lines for backups in the order your mom lists them.
Georgia law allows another person to sign the power of attorney or the health care directive for your parent. It has to be done with your parent there, and because your parent told them to. The notary and witnesses still have to be there. The medical records release follows a federal rule, and that rule does not spell out what happens when a person can’t sign by hand.
Moving into a nursing home does not change who owns your parent’s house. But if Medicaid pays for the care, Georgia can ask to be paid back from your parent’s estate after death, and that can include the house. When your parent applies, Medicaid looks back five years for gifts and for anything sold for less than it was worth.
A power of attorney ends when the person who signed it dies. After that, it cannot be used to sign for your parent.
Tell us what is going on with your mom or dad.
Your first call is free, about 15 minutes, and happens by phone with Shawn. For the three papers, the next step is to pay, and then your parent answers our health care questions. For the full plan, the next step is the Design Meeting with Shawn and Melissa, which is credited toward the plan if you move forward.
If time is short, say so first. Your first call always gives a price.