Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Texas

Re: Legal Names on POA, etc.

Your daughter's change of name should not pose a problem in the will - there should be no question as to whom you were referring. If you are redoing the will anyway, though, go ahead and update the name.

However, her name change will likely give you a problem with the Durable POA. If she tries to make a transaction on your behalf at a bank, and her name on her drivers license does not match the name on the power of attorney, the bank will likely not honor the power of attorney.

Since the Medical POA and the Directive are documents that may be needed in an emergency, it would probably be best to update them to the new name. You wouldn't want your daughter digging around for her marriage license while the doctor is waiting for a life or death decision to be made regarding your or your wife's health.

Therefore, I would strongly recommend that you update the powers of attorney and directive to your daughter's new name.

Regarding your wife's name, people use whatever name they feel comfortable with on these kind of documents. Often it is the name on their driver's licence, and often their full complete name, as your wife has done. The full form which your wife has used will be helpful in the future if someone is doing research on property ownership or geneology. I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say that this full form is "customary," but I would say that it is common, and a good idea.

Your question about addresses for witnesses is a good one. The reason to put addresses for the witnesses is so that in the future, if there is any question as to the authenticity of the document, or the mental state of the testator or principal, these addresses would help locate the witnesses, so that they could testify about the circumstances surrounding the signing of the documents. In today's world, people move a lot, so the addresses are not always helpful 20 years later, but they do often provide some benefit. I would not advise redoing a POA simply because a witness has moved - that would be overkill in my opinion.

You may, however, decide to redo a medical power of attorney if one of the agents you have appointed has moved or changed phone numbers. It is important for the hospital to be able to find the person you have named when they are needed, or else what good is the appointment?

Your inquiry also raises the interesting question of whether addresses are required in order to make the document legal. I don't know the answer to that question, but perhaps someone else will address it.