Two Documents You Should Have for End-of-Life Planning
Two Documents You Should Have for End-of-Life Planning
04.08.2020 | Category: Understand how life insurance works
Talking about the type of care we want in our final days is something our culture tends to avoid, but a growing number of people believe that the value of such conversations far outweighs the discomfort.
As important as it is to talk about our end-of-life wishes, it’s just as important to create a legal record of those wishes. To ensure that your wishes are carried out, especially if you become physically or mentally incapacitated and unable to express those wishes, experts from both the health care and legal professions recommend you have two important documents in place:
A living will
A durable power of attorney for health care
Retaining an attorney to create these documents is recommended to be sure they are prepared correctly to meet the requirements of your state. However, it is not always necessary, or legally required, to have an attorney create these documents.
Numerous organizations offer templates of both of these documents, including CaringInfo (a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization) and Aging with Dignity’s Five Wishes program. Five Wishes has documents available in 29 languages and meets the legal requirements in 44 states, and is widely used in the other six states with the completion of one additional step. If you use an online template, make sure that it’s specific to the state you live in, since requirements vary from state to state.
Here’s some information on what each document is for and why they’re so important.
Living Will
A living will, also known as an advance health care directive, is a legal document in which you give instructions regarding your preferences for medical care in the event you are unable to make decisions for yourself. Living wills provide guidance for doctors and caregivers in instances such as terminal illness, coma, late-stage dementia or end-of-life care.
Why you should have it: By planning ahead, you can get the medical care you want and avoid care you don’t want. A living will can relieve your loved ones and caregivers of having to make what could be agonizing decisions. It can also help minimize confusion or disagreement about the choices you would want people to make on your behalf.
A living will forces you to answer difficult questions about end-of-life care. You may want to consult your doctor about what to include in your living will. Medical situations and procedures that can be addressed in a living will include the following:
Instructions on tissue or organ donations
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