While you are looking into planning your estate, you’ll find that it’s a good time to think about advance directives and assigning power of attorney so that, if you are in a position in which you cannot make decisions, your wishes will be carried out.
What Is an Advanced Directive?
An advanced directive is a legal statement made by a competent person about the care that they wish to receive under certain circumstances.
When you arrange an advanced directive, you will be able to identify whether or not you would submit to being on a ventilator if you were unconscious and unlikely to wake up. You will be able to identify whether or not you would want to undergo surgeries if there were no guarantees that the procedure would do anything other than provide comfort. You will have the opportunity to identify the medical care that you would want if you were to have a stroke or to be impaired in some other way and would no longer be able to care for yourself. Ultimately, you will be able to use an advanced directive – often known as a living will – to identify what it is that, for you, is an acceptable standard of living.
With a living will, you will focus on the issues and concerns that you have and put them into writing. You will be able to identify how you want to be treated, which comfort measures you want to have taken and types of medical treatment that you expressly do not want.
Durable power of attorney for health care will allow you to identify someone who you wish to have speak for you if you are unable to speak for yourself.
What Does Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Provide?
Durable power of attorney for health care is a legal arrangement in which you name someone to be your advocate and to make health care decisions in the event that you are unable to. You can assign durable power of attorney for health care to anyone who is a legal adult (aged 18 or older) – a family member or close friend or even a minister or attorney who you trust – so long as that individual understands your wants and needs.
When you give someone durable power of attorney for health care, that person will be able to:
- Accept or refuse treatment on your behalf.
- Refuse treatment even when doing so will lead to your death – provided this is stated in the documentation.
- Act only when you are unable to do so for yourself.
You must log in to post a comment.