How many people not named Britney does it take to manage Britney Spears' affairs? It turns out that the answer might be two. Recently, a court approved her fiancé as a co-conservator in charge of her day-to-day affairs. Her father has been her conservator since 2008 and will also continue in that capacity.

While it is unclear to the general public why Britney Spears needs a conservator at all, her case does illustrate an important lesson for everyone: planning ahead for your eventual incapacitation is a much better idea than leaving it up to the courts.

The longer you live, the more likely it becomes that at some point you will no longer be able to competently handle your own affairs. Someone else will have to do it. If you have not designated someone ahead of time, then a court will have to appoint someone, or as Spears' case illustrates, the court can appoint two people.

Having an experienced estate planning attorney draft a General Durable Power of Attorney for you is a simple way to avoid having a court decide who should be in charge of your affairs. The other key point to take away from Spears is that you should not wait until you are older. No matter how old you are, you never know when you might be declared as incompetent as Britney Spears.

It is generally true that you might be able to use the services of a non-attorney for your important estate planning documents and end-of-life plans. But is it wise to do so? Absolutely not. Not only are people and companies who offer these services often breaking the law, they are also often not serving your best interests.

Experienced estate planning attorneys Portland OR of the Law Offices of Richard B. Schneider LLC offers estate planning and business planning resources to residents of Portland OR.

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Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of this publication, it is not intended to provide legal advice as individual situations will differ and should be discussed with an expert and/or lawyer. For specific technical or legal advice on the information provided and related topics, please contact the author.