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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

What is an Advance Directive?

Welcome Back to the MVP Estate Planning Blog!

Please feel free to ask questions and engage in the discussion. We will not know how to adequately address your needs and concerns unless you provide us with some feedback.

In this post, I will inform you of the definitions for the most basic terms used. I will also provide you with a general overview of what an Advance Directive (Living Will/Health Care Power of Attorney) is and how it is used.

DEFINITIONS:
Advance Directive -
An advance directive is your life in your terms. It allows you to document your wishes concerning your health care. It is effective upon signature when signed in front of the required amount of witnesses. The State of Maryland has combined the living will and health care power of attorney and uses the term “Advance Directive”.

Living Will -
A living will allows you to leave instructions for your health care treatment. It usually provides specific directions about the course of treatment that is to be followed by health care providers and caregivers. A living will may be general or very specific, a specific living will may include information regarding an individual's desire for such services such as analgesia (pain relief), antibiotics, hydration, feeding, and the use of ventilators or cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Health Care Power of Attorney -
A health care poa authorizes someone appointed by you to make decisions on your behalf concerning your health care when/if you are incapacitated.

Health Care Proxy -
A health care proxy is a document that allows you to appoint an agent to make health care decisions in the event that you are incapable of executing such decisions. Once the document is drafted, you may continue to make health care decisions as long as you are still competent to do so.

Limited POA -
A limited POA may only encompass certain types of transactions and/or may be limited in duration. It may involve the selling of real estate, the closing of a bank account, or it may be valid for the time that you on vacation outside of the country, etc. Limited POAs are drafted to fit individual needs on a one-time basis or for a limited period of time and are usually your best choice.

Durable POA -
A durable POA is effective upon signature, or at a designated time and will continue to be effective if the Principal becomes incapacitated, disabled or incompetent.

WHAT IS IT?
Advance Directives are documents in which you express your healthcare wishes and appoint a person to make decisions for you if, someday, you can no longer speak for yourself. If you do not prepare health care documents, the state law tells your doctors what to do.

The advance directive allows you to make decisions concerning the following types of medical procedures/health care issues: Admission and/or Discharge from Hospital, Hospice, Nursing Home, or other medical facility; Request to Receive Protected Health Records as your Personal Representative under HIPAA; Withholding/Withdrawing Life-Prolonging Procedures; Withdrawing Food & Water (Artificially Administered Nutrition & Hydration); Palliative Care; Authorizing Organ, Tissue or Body Donation; Authorizing an Autopsy; Authorizing Disposition of Your Remains; Nominating a Guardian, and in many states Pregnancy (you may indicate whether or not you want Health Care directions carried out in the event of your pregnancy).

With an Advance Directive in place, your health care directions will be carried out in the event that you are unable to communicate with your doctor, hospital, and/or loved ones.

HOW IT WORKS?
You should distribute copies of your Advance Directive to your agent, doctors, or medical facility most likely to treat you, otherwise it will be wasted time, money and words on a sheet of paper. Your Advance Directive should be in the hands of the people who need to know about it, so that your health care directions are carried out in accordance with your wishes.

If your Advance Directive is valid (signed by the appropriate amount of witnesses, and the person whom you have listed as your health care agent is not in violation of State law), then your agent, doctors and medical facility most likely to treat you must follow your wishes regarding your health care treatment.

We hope that the information presented in this post is helpful for our readers. If you have any questions or concerns, please address them in the comment box provided below.

Our helpful and capable staff invites you to contact us today to schedule an informative, 30 minute free, initial consultation with an estate planning attorney.

PLEASE LOOK FORWARD TO OUR NEXT BLOG POSTING SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2010

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