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LANETT — A representative of Legal Services Alabama made a visit to the Lanett Senior Center on Thursday to offer advice to senior center participants on such matters as wills, living wills, power of attorney and medical power of attorney. Enga Sturns is with the Legal Counsel for the Elderly and works through the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission, Anisaton.

The LSA law firm provides free, client-centered, civil legal advocacy to low-income Alabamians and collaborates with others across the state and nation to find solutions to systemic issues caused by poverty and social injustice inequities.

The LSA is one of the preeminent legal aid organizations in the country bridging the civil justice gap through its recognized commitment to racial, social and economic justice and support of a talented, diverse and innovative staff.

When she speaks to groups of Alabama seniors, Sturns encourages them to have five goals for 2025:

(1) to have an estate plan, (2) to have an insurance plan, (3) to have an emergency plan, (4) to have a spending plan and (5) to have an investment plan.

An estate plan includes a last will and testament, a durable power of attorney, a medical power of attorney and an advanced directive, or living will.

Sturns explained that a last will and testament directs the disposition of one’s assets, such as bank balances, property or prized possessions. “It will detail who is to receive property and in what amount,” she said. “It can establish guardian arrangements for surviving dependents. You can change your last will and testament at any time by revoking it and preparing a new document.”

The durable power of attorney is an estate planning tool where the individual appoints a person as their agent to manage their affairs. This typically involves financial or medical matters one cannot physically or mentally handle on their own because of an injury or illness.

Medical power of attorney is a legal document allowing the agent to make medical decisions for you when you can’t make they for yourself. The person you choose as your agent can do this only when your doctor says you cannot make such decisions for yourself.

A living will tells your family and your doctor your wishes when you can’t speak for yourself. It will state, for example, if you want to be kept alive on a ventilator or be allowed to pass away.

Sturns explained that an emergency plan spells out procedures for handling sudden or unexpected situations. The objective is to be prepared to prevent fatalities and injuries, reduce damage to homes and buildings and to protect the environment and community.

A spending plan is a budget. It’s a written plan that helps manage income and expenses to achieve financial goals. It allows you to live within your means, reach your goals, reduce financial stress, track your spending and improve your credit history.

Sturns added that an investment plan is a strategy to achieve financial goals. It involves assessing risks and choosing investments that are right for you. This may involve cash, stocks, bonds or real estate. Creating a portfolio is a good way to accomplish this.

A major advantage to having a will is to avoid probate. “It has to be done within five years of someone’s death,” Sturns said. “It can be expensive to probate a will.”

A will can be complicated. “You can leave what’s in one room to someone and what’s in another room to someone else,” Sturns said. “You can leave a refrigerator to one person and a stove to someone else and on and on.”

Some wills have no contest clauses. This makes the document ironclad and protects it from being contested after someone’s death..

“A living will has nothing to do with a last will and testament,” Sturns said. “It tells your doctor and the hospital what you want to do with your medical treatment, whether you want to be put on life support or not. Anyone who is at least 60 years old can have a living will drawn up.”

Legal Services Alabama helps survivors or domestic and family violence with legal protection from abuse, child custody and child support, safe housing resources, safety plans with employees and food stamps and other benefits. LSA serves survivors of domestic violence statewide. It provides resources to stabilize daily life for domestic violence victims and their children, offers information on ways to become self sufficient, advice to support and help them make lasting changes in their lives and partners with other agencies and organizations to widen the network of services to aid victims of such abuse.