In many cases, estate planning is focused on making decisions about what should happen after a person’s death. While this is an important issue to address, a family may also need to consider issues related to a person’s medical treatment and personal needs as they reach an advanced age. This aspect of estate planning is known as incapacity planning, since it will address how decisions will be made in any situations where a person becomes incapacitated, meaning that they cannot make decisions for themselves or cannot express their wishes to others. One of the key tools used for incapacity planning is a medical power of attorney.
Addressing Health Issues Through a Power of Attorney
In a power of attorney agreement, a person will name someone who will be allowed to make decisions for them. This person is known as their agent. When creating a power of attorney, a person will want to choose a person they trust to serve as their agent, such as an immediate family member or a close friend.
With a medical power of attorney, an agent will have the authority to make decisions about a person’s health and personal needs. This may include deciding what types of medical treatment they will or will not receive, determining whether they should be admitted to a hospital or receive care in a nursing home, and addressing issues related to end-of-life care, such as deciding whether life-sustaining treatment should be provided or withheld. While a medical power of attorney will generally allow an agent to make any necessary decisions, a person can specify what types of decisions the agent can address, and they can also leave detailed instructions about their wishes for the types of care they do or do not want to receive.
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