Critical choices about your future medical care and end-of-life wishes need to be made during the estate planning process. However, putting appropriate legal documents like living wills and medical powers of attorney in place to convey your preferences requires expert legal guidance.
In this article, we will examine the invaluable role an estate planning lawyer plays in helping you establish healthcare directives as part of your estate plan.
Guiding Living Will Creation
A living will (also called an advance healthcare directive) allows you to outline exactly what medical treatments you want to receive if you become incapacitated. This may involve choices about palliative care, pain management, life support, and other deeply personal decisions. An estate planning attorney, like those at Hammond Law Group, will provide the necessary legal expertise to ensure your living will accurately document your preferences and comply with your state’s specific requirements.
Advising on Powers of Attorney
A durable medical power of attorney authorizes someone you trust to make healthcare decisions guided by your written instructions if you cannot do so yourself. Your lawyer will help choose an appropriate agent and make sure your power of attorney document follows all legal guidelines in your jurisdiction. They will confirm it empowers your agent to gain access to medical records and act on your behalf.
Answering Healthcare Questions
The documents involved in estate planning healthcare directives involve many complex medical, ethical, and legal considerations. An estate planning lawyer can answer any questions you have and explain your options clearly so you can make fully informed decisions about your future care. For example, they can provide guidance on topics like life support wishes, pain management, organ donation, and long-term care instructions to document in your healthcare power of attorney and living will.
Your attorney can also explain technical elements like HIPAA privacy rules, help you select an appropriate healthcare agent, and ensure documents comply with laws in the state you reside. With an attorney addressing your healthcare questions thoroughly, you can gain peace of mind knowing future medical decisions adhere to your personal preferences.
Coordinating Documents
Your attorney will look at your overall estate plan holistically to ensure your healthcare documents like a living will and medical power of attorney, are legally valid individually but also properly integrated and coordinated with other estate planning documents you have. Consistency across your plan is essential.
Adapting Plans Over Time
As you get older and your health changes, your preferences and needs regarding medical treatments and end-of-life care may shift as well. Your estate planning attorney can periodically review your healthcare directives with you to verify they still accurately reflect your wishes or make any necessary adjustments.
Tailoring Plans to Health Conditions
If you have specific medical conditions or chronic health issues, your lawyer can tailor your healthcare documents to address considerations related to your situation. They will ensure your doctors and family understand any particular wishes based on your health. Customization adds important context.
Helping With HIPAA Releases
For loved ones to legally gain access to your medical information to participate in care decisions if you become incapacitated requires signing Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) releases. Your lawyer can advise you on exactly what needs to be included in HIPAA documents.
Advising on POLST Forms
Depending on your state, your attorney may also recommend completing a Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form that summarizes your care wishes for emergency medical personnel. POLST provides an extra layer clarifying your directives.
Encouraging Specificity
Detailed directions in your healthcare documents minimize confusion for doctors and family members later on. Your estate planning lawyer will encourage you to be as specific as possible about treatments, interventions, and end-of-life care you want to have or avoid if you cannot speak for yourself.
Emphasizing Priorities
While being specific is important, an attorney will also have you identify and articulate your overarching goals and priorities guiding healthcare decisions, like prolonging life, comfort, care setting, costs, etc. Defining priorities provides an ethical framework when applying your stated preferences.
Adding Explanatory Context
Supplementing the legal healthcare directives with an explanatory ethical will or memo adds valuable context for your medical agents and family members. Your lawyer may suggest doing this to provide increased clarity about your healthcare values and wishes.
Replacing Older Documents
If you already have outdated healthcare directives in place, your estate planning attorney can ensure any new documents you complete fully replace and make invalid any earlier directives to avoid confusion between conflicting instructions. Keeping directives current is essential.
Making legal preparations for medical treatment if you become unable to participate in decisions requires thoroughness and expertise. Allow the estate planning attorneys at Hammond Law Group in Colorado Springs to guide you in outlining your preferences and establishing comprehensive healthcare directives as an integral part of your estate plan.
