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Powers of Attorney

Advance Medical Directive

An Advance Medical Directive is also known as a “Living Will”. This document states your medical treatment preferences if you are incapable of making an informed medical decision and you are in a terminal condition, such as an irreversible coma. You may state the level of care that you wish to receive at that time and specify care that should not be administered, such as life-prolonging procedures deemed unnecessary or experimental therapies. My personal experience indicates that having this document will reduce family stress and conflict during this difficult time.

Health Care Power of Attorney

A Health Care Power of Attorney nominates an agent to make health care decisions for you in the event that you cannot make an informed medical decision. In order to further ensure that your treatment preferences will be respected, you may:

Provide your primary care physician or hospital with a copy of your Advance
Medical Directive/Health Care Power of Attorney; and
Discuss your preferences in advance of treatment with your agent and your doctor.

An agent granted authority under a Health Care Power of Attorney has all the authority to make health-care decisions that you yourself would have, and has priority over any other person to act for you in health care matters. Having an agent that you nominate under your document as opposed to a surrogate helps to ensure that your treatment preferences will be respected and to overcome challenges by others to your health care options.

No Advance Medical Directive

State statutes determine who may make medical decisions for you if you don’t have an advance medical directive or health care power of attorney. That person is called a surrogate. Surrogates are generally designated to make medical decisions for you in the following order, depending on state law:

1. Court appointed guardian
2. Spouse
3. Adult child
4. Parent
5. Adult sibling
6. Other relative in descending order of blood relationship

The persons designated as surrogates by state statutes may not be those who are best informed regarding your treatment preferences. Also, persons within a surrogate class, such as adult children, or in different classes, such as adult children and a spouse, may disagree as to a course of action, resulting in conflict, delays in making a decision and bad feelings.

Religious Beliefs

If you want your medical treatment to be in accordance with your religious beliefs, that information may be included in your Advance Medical Directive/Health Care Power of Attorney and should be made available to your doctor and medical agent. For example, you may state a desire to receive religious sacraments when death is imminent.

Financial Power of Attorney

In the event that you, the principal, become unable to manage your financial affairs, whether due to a temporary or permanent disability, a financial power of attorney grants authority over your property to another person, the agent. For example, this authority may include some or all of the following (list not all inclusive):

o Buy, sell or mortgage real estate;
o Conduct bank and brokerage account transactions;
o Manage a business;
o Make gifts to certain persons or charities;
o Manage life insurance and retirement accounts;
o Obtain tax information and file taxes; and
o Pursue claims and lawsuits on your behalf

The authority that you, as principal, grant to your agent may be immediate or contingent upon your disability. If the latter, a doctor’s certificate is required before the agent has the authority to act on your behalf.