Advance directives urged
for healthcare, personal finances
By Catherine Green
In case of an illness that leaves you incapacitated, only you should decide what you want done, or not done. This is where an advance directive, sometimes called a living will, comes in.
A Pennsylvania law, Act 169, establishes criteria for advance healthcare directives and provisions for carrying them out if you become incapacitated.You may designate an agent, someone to have a healthcare power of attorney,who will see your wishes are carried out if you are unable to express them. A living will becomes effective in the event you become incapable of communicating medical treatment instructions,and you are in an end-stage condition or are permanently unconscious. Health care power of attorney gives your agent the power to speak for you only when you are unable to speak for yourself; you need not be in an end-stage condition or permanently unconscious.
This agent should know just what you want done. Should your doctor try every procedure possible to preserve life, just enough care to keep you comfortable,or anything in between? Be sure your doctor has a copy of the document, and knows the person you designated.
Inform everyone
It’s also a good idea to let all interested persons — especially relatives — know whom you’ve designated to have your healthcare power of attorney, and what your desires are. The person you name should be someone who lives in your area, who can be available in an emergency.
Should your doctor disagree with some provision, he/she must help you find another provider who will accommodate you.
Pennsylvania does not require that the healthcare directive be notarized. Some states do, however, and elder-care lawyers suggest having it done in case you are in one of those states when an emergency arises.
The Pennsylvania Department of Aging has published a brochure, “Understanding Advance Directives for Health Care,” available on its website, www.aging.state.pa.us. Choose brochures from the list on the left. Free printed copies may also be available.
Personal finances
Handling personal finances is another major concern. Here’s where a financial power of attorney comes in. The person you designate has only the powers outlined in the document. An AARP report on the subject notes it can be as simple as giving permission to sell your car, or as extensive as allowing the person to handle all your banking and other financial transactions. In this case, the bank must be informed and may require you to execute one of its forms, so your agent can be authorized to write checks, withdraw or transfer funds and otherwise manage your accounts.
This doesn’t mean those rights are taken away from you. Generally, the financial power of attorney goes into effect when an individual is declared incompetent. This determination is most often made by a physician.
The AARP advises making both types of power of attorney as detailed as possible, allowing for unforeseen events.
As long as you can express your wishes, you’re in charge of your own life.
If you haven’t established power of attorney, says Philadelphia estate lawyer Keelin S. Barry, a costly and demeaning guardianship process can occur. Such documents, she notes, are “really for the benefit of the people you love. You can make things easier for them if they know what you want.
“For people fortunate enough to have people they can trust — usually a family member, but it can be another person — to handle their affairs, it certainly makes sense to go ahead and have a durable power of attorney.”
If no such power is given, the law provides for appointment of a healthcare advocate decision maker to make decisions. In order of priority, this would be a spouse, adult child, parent, adult sibling and adult grandchild.
Never too early
At what stage of life should you start thinking about these matters?
“Certainly, in your 40s by all means,” said attorney Risé Newman, whose practice in Center City Philadelphia includes estate and property law. “If you’re in your 20s or 30s and unmarried, you should make your healthcare wishes known.”
A financial power
of attorney becomes increasingly important as people age, she said. With a financial power of attorney, the appointed agent has the power to step in, when needed, to handle financial affairs. No matter what your situation, having such an arrangement prevents the need to have a guardian appointed.
Under Pennsylvania law, financial powers of attorney and living wills are “very thorough,” Newman said. They indicate whether your wishes must be followed, or the designated person has discretion to respond to changing circumstances.
Barry and Newman co-chair the Elder Law Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association.