• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PA

SEXTON BAILEY ATTORNEYS, PA an Arkansas Estate Planning & Trust Information Center

Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PA

Northwest Arkansas Estate Planning Attorneys (479) 443-0062

Click Here to vote for us for the Best of NWA!

Client Vault
  • Home
  • Our Firm
    • Our Firm
    • About the American Academy
    • Advantages of Working With Our Firm
    • Attorney and Staff Profiles
    • News & Events
    • Our Reviews
    • Speaker Connection
  • services
    • Asset Protection & Business Planning
    • Elder Law & Medicaid Services
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Estate Planning Services
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Incapacity Planning
    • Legacy Planning
    • Pet Planning
    • Secure Act
    • Special Needs Planning
    • Trust Administration & Probate
  • Webinars
  • Practice Areas
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Reports
    • Estate Planning Resources
      • Estate Planning Articles
      • Estate Planning Checkup
      • Estate Planning Definitions
      • Estate Planning Reports
      • Incapacity Planning Definitions
      • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
      • Top 10 Estate and Legacy Planning Techniques
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Estate Planning
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • Medicaid Planning
      • Pet Planning
      • Trust Administration & Probate
    • Newsletters
    • Pre Consultation Form
    • Trust Administration & Probate Resources
      • Bereavement Resources
      • How to Know if You Need Extra Help With Your Grieving
      • Loss of a Loved One
      • The Mourner’s Bill of Rights
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Trust
      • Things You Need To Do When a Loved One Passes Away With a Will
      • Trust Administration & Probate Definitions
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • Contact Us
  • Blog
Home / Elder Care / A Few Helpful Elder Law Terms

A Few Helpful Elder Law Terms

November 7, 2012 by Deb Sexton Leave a Comment

A lot of people who come to an estate planning and elder law attorney don’t know a lot about the law. Because of this you can often run into some potentially confusing terms that you may not be familiar with. This is incredibly common, and you always want to be sure to ask about unfamiliar terms so you know what is going on. Here are a couple of the more commonly misunderstood, and useful, terms you will want to know.

Fiduciary

Under the law, a fiduciary is a person, or sometimes an organization, which has a legal duty to act in your best interest. Many people are often reluctant to create legal documents such as trusts or powers of attorney because these documents give someone else a lot of power. People are often reluctant to create these documents, even though they are incredibly useful, because people believe that those they give power to will abuse their positions for their own benefit. That is where the fiduciary duty comes in. Fiduciaries have a legal obligation to do what is in your best interests and can not use the position to further their own interests.

Incapacity

Your ability to create an estate plan hinges on your ability to make decisions. All adults are presumed to have this ability unless a court determines that they are legally incapacitated. This means that you can make any legal decisions you wish until you lose your mental faculties. You can also plan ahead for the possibility of becoming incompetent by creating documents which will take effect upon your loss of capacity, as well as by appointing others who can step in if that ever occurs.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Deb Sexton
Latest posts by Deb Sexton (see all)
  • Estate Planning is Essential Whether You Are Married or Not - April 25, 2018
  • Income Tax Basis in Estate Planning – Part 2 - April 23, 2018
  • The Downsizing Generation: How to Handle a Surplus of Stuff When a Loved One Ages - April 18, 2018

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sexton, Bailey Attorneys, PA

Is Your Plan Outdated?

Subscribe to Our Blog

Office Address

Fayetteville
2766 Millenium Drive
Fayetteville, AR 72703
Phone: (479) 443-0062

Office Address

Prairie Grove
1100 Division Street, Suite 4
Prairie Grove, AR 72753
Phone: (479) 846-6026

( By Appointment Only )

Office Hours

Monday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Friday9:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Map

map for office
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

footer-logo

© 2022 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, Inc.