Making it Personal
N/AOUTCOME: I was notified by the family that Alma passed a few days later, her wishes given legal effect in the will we worked together to draft and have executed.
Ms. Guerrero called to speak with me about setting up a will and a power of attorney for her ailing mother, Alma. Alma had some specific requests with regard to the distribution of her property, so a w ... ill was necessary to give them legal effect. One complication was that Alma was a native Spanish-speaker and did not speak much English. Another complication was that Alma was no longer able to travel easily. Because of her declining health, time was of the essence and we did not have the luxury of the usual process of an initial meeting followed by separate drafting, review, and document execution meetings. To suit Alma's circumstances, I took my laptop and portable printer, recruited the help of an interpreter, and made a house call. We met the whole family in Alma's family home in North Philadelphia, took down her wishes, and printed and reviewed the documents in person. Once Alma approved the provisions in the will and power of attorney, I printed them and had them signed, witnessed, and I notarized them.
