The Role of Healthcare Directives in Estate Planning

Health Directives in Estate Planning… What Do We Need to Consider?

Health directives in estate planning isn’t something that is typically considered. Yet, COVID-19 changed all that to an extent. COVID-19 made more people consider advance healthcare planning.

Also known as Healthcare Directives, this is an area that was put off frequently in the past. In fact, it was nearly non-existent in most people’s lives. Those of us in legal and estate planning professions have seen a change. There’s been a significant increase in attention given to Healthcare Directives in the past three years.

Healthcare Directives Speak For You in Your Estate Planning When You Can’t Speak For Yourself

Healthcare directives are an integral part of estate planning. They do so much for those who take the time to create a comprehensive estate plan. They save your family from having to make healthcare decisions for you in the event you no longer can. Can you imagine the burden of having your loved one in that position especially if you’ve never discussed the topic before? Healthcare directives also secure your medical treatment preferences so that the care you desire to have is provided, while the care you do not want is not provided.

Living Wills And Healthcare Powers of Attorney

The two most common advance directives for health care are the Living Will and the Durable Power of Attorney for health care, also known as Healthcare Powers of Attorney. These legal documents provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes.

Health Directives in Estate Planning – The Living Will

A living will is a legal document that tells doctors how you want to be treated if you cannot make your own decisions about emergency treatment. In a living will, you can say which common medical treatments or care you would want, which ones you would want to avoid, and under which conditions each of your choices applies.

Health Directives in Estate Planning – Power of Attorney for Health Care

This legal document names your health care agent, a person selected by you to make health care decisions for you if you are unable to communicate these yourself. This individual, called a proxy, representative, surrogate, or agent, must be familiar with your values and wishes. It can be anyone you choose whom you trust to follow your directives. It can be your spouse, an adult child, partner, sister or brother, or other relative or good friend. Having a health care proxy helps you plan for situations that cannot be foreseen, such as a serious car accident or stroke, or a global pandemic.

Create A Comprehensive Estate Plan

Making sure your estate is distributed in the way you desire is important. This is why people create estate plans. But equally, if not of even greater importance is how you are cared for in the event you can no longer make important healthcare decisions for yourself. This is why every estate plan needs to be comprehensive and include healthcare directives.

Once you create these important documents with your attorney, think of your advance directives as living documents. Thus, you should review them at least once each year. Furthermore, you need to update them if a major life event occurs. Such events include retirement, moving out of state, divorce, or a significant change in your health. Also, if something happens that makes your healthcare agent unable to fulfill the role, you will need to designate someone else.

Give my office a call at 404-370-0696 and let’s give you and your loved ones the gift of certainty that should an accident or ill health befall you, you’ve taken the steps and the responsibility for making the decisions about how you desire to be cared for. You’ve taken that responsibility off the shoulders of those you love. They will be thankful for that.

Looking to find an experienced estate lawyer in the Georgia area who is skilled in asset protection and estate plan preparation? Shannon Pawley is an attorney in Georgia with expertise in estate planning and asset protection. Shannon can provide assistance with creating an estate plan to include making a will and how to establish a trust properly. If you have questions about asset protection or questions about making an estate plan, reach out to Shannon and she will be glad to help answer all the estate planning questions you might have!