When you’re making your estate plans, it’s crucial to select someone you trust to speak for you if you’re ever unable to speak for yourself – especially when it comes to your medical care. However, it’s equally important to make sure that you don’t assume that your chosen agent fully understands your wishes – even if you think you’ve broadly made your wishes known.
What should you discuss with your power of attorney for health care (the agent designated in your Advanced Health Care Directive)? Here are some key topics:
1. Your preferences
How do you feel about life-sustaining treatments, like resuscitation, artificial life support or feeding tubes? What are your feelings about pain relief at the end of life? At what point do you want efforts to prolong your life to stop? How do your personal values, religious beliefs and cultural practices affect what you want done?
A frank, open conversation with your health care agent can help clear up any uncertainties and give them the knowledge they need to confidently make hard decisions when the moment comes.
2. Your medical history
Your health care proxy will have a difficult time making informed choices about your health care if they don’t have a detailed knowledge of your medical history prior to that point.
Talk to them about your chronic conditions, drug allergies, past surgeries and medications you take, and make sure that they know how to reach your primary care physician and important specialists. That can make it easier for your health care proxy to advocate effectively for you when the time comes.
3. Familial concerns
Family dynamics can be very complicated, especially when it comes to end-of-life care of a loved one. If you suspect that your health care agent will meet some resistance (or flat-out opposition) from some of your loved ones, make sure they’re prepared.
You also want to make sure that your health care agent has the sort of personality that will allow them to withstand pressure from your family members to make decisions that go contrary to your wishes.
Estate planning involves a lot of complicated issues, and emotions can get in the way of practicality. Learning more about your options can make it easier to have the end-of-life care you want.
