I can only speak for the UK, but here, there are two types of power of attorney: the health one designates someone to make decisions about medical treatment if the subject is unable to; the finance one allows the attorney to manage the assets of the subject when needed.

The key point is that the whole process should be far easier if these things are setup in advance, while the person is still able to make their wishes clear, i.e. while they can still say who they trust to make decisions for them.

I imagine it varies by jurisdiction. Here in the UK you can create something called a "living will" but it's mostly about how you want to be treated in terms of your health (think DNR type stuff) and living arrangements and isn't legally enforceable on its own like a regular will – certainly not for something like selling jointly owned property: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/money-legal/lega...

I imagine if we ever get around to accepting euthanasia as a society the idea around a living will need to become formalised. For decades my dad was very clear he would prefer to be dead than exist in the state he is now but sadly the law insists he, or whatever is left of him, must suffer.

Not a lawyer, but in the US there are typically separate power of attorney documents for financial vs medical decisions. If you search for your state and medical or financial power of attorney you should find standard forms for them and see what they cover.

My mother, who is now in memory care due to Alzheimer's, knew long ago what was in store for her (her mother and one of her sisters also had it) and planned accordingly long ago. She has a simple but comprehensive will...and most importantly at the moment, two powers of attorney that give the designee (me, in this case) control over both her medical/daily living decisions and her financial decisions. The weeks surrounding the day the doctor activated her power of attorney were hectic, but far easier than they would have been without her prior planning.

She'd also made my sister and I co-owners on her bank account, so we had no difficulty accessing money for her care in the short term.