Responsible seniors understand the importance of planning ahead and making certain that their wishes are known and honored, even when they cannot express those wishes themselves. OurSeniors.Net has often written about the importance of the timely, up-to-date legal documents that all seniors should have.
Unfortunately, these documents are not maintained by most seniors. A recent Gallop poll found that only about 50% of Americans have a will. Seniors, aged 65+ scored better at about 75 %. However, we suspect that other vital documents like a Living Will (Advanced Medical Directive) or a Medical Proxy/Power of Attorney for Health Care are far less common. A Power of Attorney for Health Care document assigns a “medical proxy” to make critical decisions if a senior is unable to. This can be a vitally important document. OurSeniors.Net knows this from experience.
Recently, one of the OurSeniors.Net staff members was involved in a situation where there was no designated medical proxy. Life and death decisions had to be made, and no one was clearly in authority to do so. Eventually, this situation was resolved, but only after great effort. This very difficult situation can be avoided if you plan and understand the important differences in end-of-life legal documents.
Many responsible seniors have already created a Durable Power of Attorney, and they think that this document will suffice for healthcare decisions. It will not. A Durable Power of Attorney grants someone the ability to make financial decisions for the principal, the maker of the document. It does not give the holder the right to make vital health decisions. Hospitals caring for incapacitated patients are not going to accept the Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) as valid for making these decisions.
The proper document for granting the authority to make medical decisions is the Medical Proxy/Power of Attorney for Health Care. This document assigns a “medical proxy,” a person you trust, to make medical decisions if you are unable to do so for yourself. It is important to not confuse these two important documents. They serve completely different functions.
Without a proper Power of Attorney for Healthcare, critical decisions about care may have to be made by a court, or a court-appointed person not chosen by the patient. Most states have laws that direct courts to appoint medical proxies in a defined way—spouses first, then children, then other relatives, etc. This is a situation you want to avoid. It could cause unneeded conflict if there are differing opinions about what is to be done.
It is wise to check the status of all your legal documents regularly. Make sure they are up-to-date, properly stored, and that locations are known to your family. Do not confuse the Durable Power of
Attorney for financial matters with the Medical Proxy or Power of Attorney for Healthcare. If you have not made one or both of these documents, now is the time to do so. Think especially hard about who you want as a medical proxy and discuss this with them. Many people would not want to make this decision, and you should not put this burden on them.
If you chose a healthcare proxy years ago, is this person still able to fill this role? As people age, their capacity to deal with these decisions may change. Make certain that your healthcare proxy is still the person you would choose right now. You should also designate a backup or secondary proxy in case the primary choice is unable to fulfill the role. Doing this now can make a huge difference to your family if you are unable to make your wishes known. It is a good idea to review all your legal documents periodically. This review should include your personal will, Living Will (or Advance Medical Directive) and Powers of Attorney for both financial and healthcare matters.
The OurSeniors.Net Pro Team has several members who are uniquely qualified to assist you in keeping these documents up to date. Ms. Wendy Mara, J.D., M.B.A, and Mr. Andrew Grant, Esq. are both experts in these matters. They will be happy to assist you in creating, updating, and maintaining these vital documents. Click on OurSeniors ProTeam to see their contact and bio information.
The Pro Team is just one of the many services and features offered by OurSeniors.Net. You can look to OurSeniors.Net for the kind of information that helps you make the best choices. As your senior living magazine and online senior living magazine of choice, we will continue to inform you about topics like senior housing news, living in Florida, Social Security issues, Medicare options, and legal advice for seniors.
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