When planning for your end-of-life care there are some important things to keep in mind beyond just having the proper legal documents in place.
You likely have heard that you need a general durable power of attorney, a health care power of attorney and a living will in place for your end-of-life care. If you have not, then be advised that these documents are necessary for someone else to take care of your affairs when you are no longer able to do so and to let health care professionals know what treatments not to use to prolong your life when you have no hope of recovery.
Talk to an estate planning attorney to get these documents if you do not already have them.
Beyond those documents, however, there are a few other things that you need to do as Barron's points out in "Three End-of-Life Estate Plan Lessons."
The other tips include:
- If you have an estate plan, then it is important to let your family know what state you want to be in at the end of your life. Your estate plan should be tailored to the individual laws in your state. If you are moved to another state, the plan might not be as effective.
- You need to pick the strongest surrogates for your powers of attorney as possible. They need to be people who know how to handle things. They also need to be people who have the willpower to stand up to other loved ones who might disagree with the decisions being made.
- If you think your child might be overly emotional or too heartbroken, do not put that child in the position to tell the doctors when to remove you from life support. Pick someone else to do that.
Reference: Barron's (Nov. 8, 2016) "Three End-of-Life Estate Plan Lessons."
If you or someone is interested in creating estate planning documents or would like more information, please let Hougum Law Firm, LLC be your guide.