Who Will Make Your Healthcare Decisions If You Are Unable To?

In my many years writing up living trusts and wills, I get asked this question quite often. It’s understandable to ask such a crucial question, especially as we age and began to think about all of the what-if’s in life. As you began to piece together your life insurance and end of life directives, take some time to research and speak to a living will specialist about future healthcare decisions.
If you can’t make healthcare decisions due to serious accident or illness, without a living will you might be in some trouble. A living will is different from a ‘will’ in the fact that a ‘living will’ determines what happens to you if you are still living but unable to make decisions for yourself. Living wills typically cover issues such as resuscitation, organ donations, life support, feeding, and the like.
Who Should Make The Decisions?

If you don’t have a living will, medical decisions will be left to the medical professionals. However, if you have a living will, you can legally appoint someone to answer all medical questions for you. You can also state specifically which treatments you would like, and which treatments you would not like in the event that you can’t speak for yourself.
Sit down with a legal professional, someone who has ample experience with creating living wills, to determine who you will appoint in charge of your medical decisions. It can be absolutely anyone of your choosing, from a family member to a friend. You can even choose to not have someone speak for you, but you can lay out every possible medical option in the will to account for every possible scenario.
Do I Need More Than A Living Will?

Speak to a legal professional about exactly what you need, however in most cases you’ll need a medial or health care power of attorney, as well as a Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR). Unfortunately, no matter how hard you try to cover every single possible situation, there truly are too many unknowns when considering your living will, so it really is best to appoint someone with a medical power of attorney.
What Treatments Should I Consider?

According to MayoClinic, the following are the most important healthcare decisions to include in your living will:

Resuscitation. Restarts the heart when it has stopped beating (cardiac death). Determine if and when you would want to be resuscitated by cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or by a device that delivers an electric shock to stimulate the heart.
Mechanical ventilation. Takes over your breathing if you’re unable to do so. Consider if, when and for how long you would want to be placed on a mechanical ventilator.
Nutritional and hydration assistance. Supplies the body with nutrients and fluids intravenously or via a tube in the stomach. Decide if, when and for how long you would want to be fed in this manner.
Dialysis. Removes waste from your blood and manages fluid levels if your kidneys no longer function. Determine if, when and for how long you would want to receive this treatment.

Need Help?

If you are not sure as to what legal document you currently have contact one of our professionals to help you with your estate planning. They will make sure you have all of your grounds covered and have the right legal documents that best suite your wants and needs.