No one wants to think about it, let alone talk about it. There will be a need at the end of life to have a plan in place. This plan could determine how you are cared for and your well-being as a whole.
As an estate planning attorney that helps individuals in making these end-of-life decisions way before the end of their lives, I pride myself on helping couples at Thornton Law Firm make the right decisions. Cutting corners or making quick decisions could lead to poor end-of-life care.
3 key documents that need to be considered when planning end-of-life care are:
- Health Care Power of Attorney: It is important to make sure that you have a medical power of attorney in place for yourself. If not, there may be delays or confusion at a medical facility as to who is make those critical decisions if an individual is incapacitated, leading to possible delays in your care and headaches for your loved ones.
- Financial (Durable) Power of Attorney: A Financial Power of Attorney is extremely critical, but frequently forgotten. This gives someone else the ability to access bank accounts, credit cards, and insurance policies that are supposed to help with medical bills. Without this document, your loved ones may have a very hard time accessing your financial resources.
- Living Will: In a living will, YOU make your wishes known about what YOU want done if you are on life support and are not expected to survive or are unconscious and never expected to wake up again. This document can save your loved ones the gut-wrenching decision about whether or not they should “pull the plug” on you.
This all sounds like very high-level decisions to make, but don’t be nervous! I help my customers walk through and think through all of these items. Contact me today to start making these decisions for your family.
