Have you ever considered whether your family would be able to manage in a situation where you were unable to sign documents or make decisions for yourself? Everyone is aware of the importance of making Wills but Powers of Attorney can often be left at the bottom of the to-do-list, being viewed as less significant, when the truth is that they are equally as important as they enable your loved ones to continue managing your affairs, on your behalf, for as long as possible. If you were to lose your mental capacity as a result of dementia, an accident, illness or stroke, by making Powers of Attorney, you can appoint people with your best interests at heart, to make decisions in respect of your finances or health and welfare should you not be able to make them for yourself.
What is Power of Attorney or an POA?
A Power of Attorney or POA is a legal document which allows a person (the Donor) to appoint someone (the Attorney) to assist in making decisions on their behalf. The POA will need to be registered with the Office of the Public Guardian before it is valid and the power can be used by the Attorneys.
There can be up to five Attorneys appointed but careful consideration would need to be given to who to appoint and how to appoint them. For example, would you want all attorneys acting together, or independently? It is not uncommon for appointments to be made on a mixture of joint and independent. Everyday decisions such as controlling bank accounts can be managed by any one of your attorneys however; more major decisions such as the investment of large sums or the sale of your house could be made on a joint basis with all of your attorneys needing to agree on the course of action to be taken.
Your Attorney can only make decisions or take action on your behalf either at your specific instruction or if you are mentally incapable of doing so yourself.
What type of Power of Attorney are you likely to need?
There are two types of POAs:
- Property and Financial Affairs
- Health and Welfare.
Both documents allow the Attorneys to make decisions on the Donor’s behalf. If the Donor becomes incapable of managing their affairs then the Attorneys will have the power to continue to make the decisions on the Donor’s behalf.
But, what about my spouse, signatory or next of kin?
People often think they can get by without a POA but more often than not, this is not the case. If, for example, you are a signatory, the power will only remain valid while the account holder has full mental capacity.
Furthermore a “next-of-kin” has no legal standing and a spouse is unable to see your medical notes or make medical decisions on your behalf without official authority.
Due to Covid-19 Fresh Law Graduates stare at a bleak future
This academic year, a 6-8 month delay is expected in on-boarding freshers, while a further lag would compound job market woes as a similar number is expected to come out in the next year too.
“Now with Covid-19, it would not matter much how pedigreed their graduation is. The employers themselves are fighting for survival, and somehow, they have to sustain for the next 3-6 months. In general, whether it’s lateral or fresher hires, all will be in the backburner for now,” she added.
In the academic year 2018, about 64.7 lakh students passed out of under graduate courses and 15 lakh in post graduate. These include conventional three-year degree courses and professional degrees (law, engineering, medicine, business and management courses). Every year, 10-14 lakh engineers graduate.
A similar amount of pass out is expected this year also, even though many examinations were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Pramod Maheshwari, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer at Career Point said: “About 75 per cent of students who graduate opt for a job rather than higher studies, and this year with the slowdown in economy I don’t see fresh recruitment happening in the next 6 months. And if the slowdown prolongs for more than a year, then the same number of freshers would be joining the job-hunting queue.”
“I don’t think recruiters have also concluded their placement sessions during the first two months of this year,” he added.
For universities April and May are generally the time of final examinations, but they are postponed this year due to the lockdown.
Covid affects the bottom of the pyramid
A number of people who come out of colleges pick up entry-level jobs, with about 15-20 per cent joining field force and customer-facing positions, Kamal Karanth, co-founder at specialist staffing company Xpheno, said. This time, these were the first to be laid off.
“Following the Covid-19 outbreak, many firms are curtailing the number of field staff as there is no growth, and on the contrary there is contraction of business,” Karanth added.
With GDP being projected to grow by two per cent, and companies are trying to stay afloat and avoid pink slips, it’s a long road to recovery for the economy and the new graduates.
