Creating an estate plan requires you to consider much more than just who will get which assets when you pass away. One of the important considerations is your medical care if you become incapacitated.
There are two options that you have for ensuring that you have appropriate medical care if you can’t speak up for yourself. These are designating a healthcare agent through a power of attorney for healthcare and creating an advance directive.
What does a healthcare agent do?
Your healthcare agent can make decisions about what type of medical care you’ll receive. They should be able to make decisions that comply with what you want. It may be best for you to discuss your wishes with them, and they should be familiar with the information that’s presented in your advance directive.
What is an advance directive?
The advance directive is a written set of instructions that let your medical care team know what you want. This can include your wishes about pain relief, artificial nutrition, resuscitation and palliative care. It’s best to provide as much information as possible in this document since it’s a written account of your wishes.
Your estate plan is your chance to provide a legally binding account of your wishes. It’s critical that each document and point in it are written out in a way that isn’t ambiguous. You may find that you have peace of mind once you have the estate plan created because you’ll know that your loved ones can follow the plan while they heal from losing you.
