When a loved one is ill, incapacitated or nearing end of life, it’s vital that his or her wishes are known. Honoring a family member’s preferences regarding financial decisions and care is best ensured through legal documentation.
The two most important legal documents that make certain your family member’s wishes are carried out are: a power of attorney, or POA, and an advanced care directive. Ensuring that all members of the health team know who has POA and ACD is also necessary.
About POA
A power of attorney is a legal document that allows someone to act on behalf of an individual who is unable to make sound financial decisions. Creating a financial POA allows your loved one to ensure that his or her wishes will be honored should good decision-making become impossible.
The person who gets POA is essentially a substitute decision-maker. He or she may be stepping in because the person has dementia, a traumatic brain injury or a mental illness. Generally, a POA is durable, which means that it continues to remain in effect, no matter the state of the person.
It’s advisable to create a POA before your loved one becomes incapacitated and unable to make sound financial decisions. If a POA isn’t created in advance, you may have to go to court to become your loved one’s legal guardian. This is a lengthy and expensive process. In the meantime, your loved one’s financial status could be in jeopardy.
About ACD
In a medical emergency or at end of life, it may be impossible for your loved one to make a solid decision about health care. For that reason, it’s a good idea to do some advance care planning and have an advance care directive, or ACD, created.
An ACD is a legal document that becomes effective only if your loved one is deemed incapacitated and becomes unable to speak for himself or herself. This could be the result of a disease that causes dementia, such as Alzheimer’s, or it could be the result of a stroke or other severe injury or disease that makes decision-making difficult or impossible.
ACDs allow your loved one to specify how he or she would like to be treated should medical issues arise. Some of these possible decisions include the need to use cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR, a ventilator or artificial feeding and hydration.
An ACD can also instruct as to what type of comfort care your loved one desires. For instance, such instructions can include your family member’s wishes for medication for pain, constipation, nausea or anxiety. Comfort care may also include counseling for emotional and spiritual issues.
Notifying the health care team regarding POA and ACD
So that decisions about your loved one are made in a legal manner that reflects his or her wishes, it’s important that your health care team knows exactly who holds POA and ACD. The person who has power of attorney and/or advance care directives is someone who your family member trusts to make the best decisions.
So that there is no confusion, it’s best to list this person in writing and see that everyone on the health care team knows. Make it clear that only those who are listed as having POA and ACD are to give any instructions about the care of your loved one.
A POA and ACD are critical documents that help ensure that your loved one enjoys medical care that is just as he or she would like. Discover your loved one’s instructions and who he or she would like to oversee them, and everyone can be assured that all will go as planned medically and financially.
Resources:
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-is-a-power-of-attorney-poa-en-1149/
- National Institute on Aging, https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/advance-care-planning-healthcare-directives
