Beyond writing a will and setting up a trust, your estate planning attorney may recommend drafting a Power of Attorney for health care decisions. This legal document provides your family members or other trusted individuals with the authority to make decisions regarding your health care, if you are incapable of making or communicating decisions regarding your medical treatment. If properly drafted, it may also include your directions on whether you want to be kept on life support under certain conditions. These directions may also be set forth in an advance directive that is commonly called a “living will”, but a “living will” typically does not appoint an agent to effect and enforce its provisions.

A Power of Attorney for Health Care Provides Guidelines for Medical Treatment

If you become gravely ill or fall into a coma, it may be difficult or impossible to articulate to family members and doctors your wishes regarding medical treatment. In such a situation, if you are incapable of making or communicating your own medical decisions, a Power of Attorney for Health Care goes into effect. Your designated agent or agents, such as family members or other trusted individuals, will be able to make health care decisions for you. If properly drafted, it may also include your directions on whether you want to be kept on life support if you are suffering from a terminal illness or are in a persistent vegetative state. It may also state your choices regrading whether you should receive artificial hydration and nutrition under those conditions. If you feel the answer depends on the circumstances, feel free to include stipulations to each of these clauses. For example, you might want to be on a feeding tube for a maximum of 60 days.

A Power of Attorney for Health Care Speaks for You When You Can’t 

Having a Power of Attorney for Health Care in place means that someone you trust can still provide informed consent for your health care decisions when you are incapable of making those decisions yourself  and enforce your directions regarding the withholding of artificial life support if you are suffering from a terminal illness or are in persistent vegetative state. This may help take the burden off of a spouse or adult children who may be tasked with making such decisions and avoid disagreements among family members. Keep them informed of your estate planning so they know who to turn to for these documents and so they can ask questions regarding your wishes.

For estate planning assistance, contact Lincoln, NE-based David R. Webb, Attorney at Law. With over 30 years of experience and knowledge of wills and probate law, he is qualified to offer helpful, thorough legal advice and document preparation. To discuss your needs, call (402) 477-7577. Learn more about the attorney’s experience and additional practice areas online.