Estate Planning for Incapacity and Legacy

How can an estate plan provide direction during incapacity and carry my intentions forward after death?

Estate Planning for Incapacity and Legacy (formerly Estate Planning Module 2) explores how estate planning can support both lifetime decision-making and the transfer of assets, responsibilities, and values after death. You will examine the roles of powers of attorney for finances and health care, consider how advance planning can reduce uncertainty during a health crisis, and distinguish between effective and efficient wealth transfers. The module also invites you to consider legacy more broadly, including how an estate plan can reflect personal values, philanthropic aims, family history, and the responsibilities of beneficiaries.

What You’ll Be Able to Do on the Other Side

• Compare the purposes of powers of attorney for finances and health care with documents that operate after death.
• Identify questions to ask when selecting someone to make financial or personal care decisions during incapacity.
• Analyze how advance health care directions can affect decision-making, family dynamics, and conflict during a crisis.
• Evaluate whether an estate planning approach supports both the intended transfer of assets and the practical costs and responsibilities involved.
• Articulate how personal values, family aspirations, or charitable intentions might be reflected in a legacy plan.

The Experience

This module combines self-paced reading, document examples, podcasts, film-based scenarios, and reflection questions. A health care crisis from The Descendants is used to examine how powers of attorney and advance directions shape authority, family involvement, and difficult decisions when a person no longer has capacity.

You will also consider legacy through the example of Alfred Nobel and through prompts about how wealth, values, and aspirations may be carried forward. Homework questions help you compare key estate planning documents, interpret the consequences of different planning choices, and reflect on your own role within a broader family estate plan.

Estimated Completion Time: 3 hours

Prerequisites: Estate Planning Basics Recommended 

Featured Resources:

• Heritage Trust estate planning roadmap "Heritage Trust: Before It's Too Late: The Estate Organizer Guide for Canadians, 2nd Edition" 
• Sample of an enduring power of attorney for personal care for Ontario
• Sample power of attorney for finances
• Podcast from Cindy Radu entitled, Get it Together: What you Need to Know to Organize Your Estate
• Podcast from Dr. Katie Spencer entitled, Crafting Legacies, Unveiling Personal Narratives-The Tamarind Learning Podcast
• Podcast from Iris Wagner entitled, Family Lore, Wisdom, and Values: Transformation with Ethical Wills