Health Care Planning In Your Estate Plan
Your estate plan can and should include advance medical directives such as a Power of Attorney for Medical Decisions, Living Will, and a general HIPPA release. These documents will allow family and medical providers to know your wishes when it comes to your health care and end of life decisions when you are unable to speak for yourself. You taking the steps to have these documents as part of your Kansas estate plan will help ensure family harmony during difficult times.
A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions (Medical Power of Attorney) allows you to designate a person, your agent, to help make health care decisions on your behalf if you are unable to speak for yourself due to illness or incapacity. This means the agent can consent, refuse consent, or withdraw consent to your care or treatment. Your agent can make the necessary arrangements at hospitals, treatments facilities, or care facilities to ensure you receive the medical care you need. The agent will have the ability to hire and fire medical providers as they determine is in your best interests physically, mentally, and emotionally. The Medical Power of Attorney will also allow your agent to request and review medical records. This document will go into effect upon signing; however, if you are able to speak for yourself then you are still in control of your medical decisions.
The Medical Power of Attorney is a powerful and important document. You want to name a person you fully trust and that you know will honor your wishes and dignity as your agent. You are free to revoke or update your Medical Power of Attorney at any time. Let your close family members know who you have named as your agent for health care decisions so everyone is a part of the plan. You will want to give copies of your Medical Power of Attorney to your treating physicians and any hospitals you will be admitted to for future procedures.
A Living Will is another advance medical directive you will want to consider when drafting your estate plan. In this document you are stating your end-of-life care directions. When you are no longer able to speak for yourself because of terminal illness or in an unresponsive wakefulness state (vegetative state) your Living Will allows your medical providers to follow your wishes for your care. Your attending physician and another physician will examine you to determine if you are in a terminal condition. A terminal condition is when life-sustaining procedures will prolong the dying process and death will occur even if the life-sustaining procedures are given. Life-sustaining procedures can include mechanical ventilation, renal dialysis, chemotherapy, antibiotics, artificial nutrition and hydration. Your physician will still provide medications and care to ensure you are comfortable and not in pain. If you are able to speak for yourself, then your doctors will follow your directions, this document is for anytime you are unable to speak for yourself.
You will want to give a copy of your Living Will to your physicians and hospital. You will want to discuss your wishes with your close family so everyone understands your wishes.
These are topics that are difficult to think about and difficult to discuss with family. These discussions will help maintain harmony during difficult moments and ensure your wishes and dignity are respected. We hope you never need to use these documents, but it is important to plan for the unexpected when developing your Kansas estate plan. We are here to help you develop your estate plan so it reflects who you are and your wishes.