Advanced Directives

One outcome of the pandemic is to highlight healthcare for the elderly and has brought renewed attention to an important, but often overlooked part of a person’s estate plan – the advanced directive.

Advance directives are generally comprised of a living will and health care power of attorney. These are legal documents that lay out your wishes when you cannot tell the doctors whether to prolong your life or proceed with that expensive medical intervention. A living will dictates to medical providers what kinds of medical care you want at the end of your life, should you be unable to communicate these things yourself. A health care power of attorney allows you to designate someone to make your medical decisions for you if you’re not able to communicate. Most people should have both, since not all medical situations will trigger a living will.

If you know someone who doesn’t have these important documents, there are some easy resources. The websites sponsored by AARP and a company called Everplans offer links to free forms that conform to the laws in each state. Five Wishes offers an interactive version of these documents for a modest $5 fee. Prepare for Your Care, a site founded by a geriatrician and college professor, helps you focus on the quality of life you want, what would make you want to go on living (or not). This is preferable to trying to list medical procedures that you may not fully understand.

With the health care power of attorney, it is important to select the right person to make your health decisions — someone who you know will follow your wishes, rather than simply tell the doctors to do whatever they can to preserve a life whose quality was already lost. And make sure you have designated a backup in case that person is not available. In addition, people who are creating these documents might want to explain their thinking, so that loved ones will understand the point and purpose of the directive.

Of course, the documents will have to be available when needed. People can store the originals in a secure place in the home (perhaps where the will is located), and they should make sure the family knows where to find them. The documents should also be on file with the doctor and perhaps the attorney as well. And the best practice is to carry a card that has the health care agent’s name and contact information and tells where you stored the originals and copies.