The Medical Care Aspects of Your Estate Plan
Estate planning is not just about money. With you, your property is only stuff. Yes, it would be stressful for your family if you never indicated your wishes about who would inherit which assets from you, and your surviving relatives had to guess, and sometimes argue, about what you would have wanted or who is entitled to inherit what. The wounds are more painful, though, if your family has a falling out regarding your care during your final illness or years of declining health. One family member might blame another for letting your health deteriorate and claim that, if not for that person’s neglect, you would still be alive and well. Conversely, one family member might blame another for putting you through painful medical interventions that had little chance of improving your health instead of letting you die a peaceful death. Therefore, your estate plan is not complete until you issue documents indicating your wishes about medical treatment and end-of-life care. For help drafting an advance directive and other documents related to the medical aspects of your estate plan, contact a Bronx estate planning lawyer.
Advance Directives and Other Health-Related Estate Planning Documents
You know it is summer in New York when your favorite brunch spots are full of old folks talking to their friends about illness and death; in the winter, they do this in Florida, and an eerie quiet descends on your favorite brunch spots. If all you have to go on is these conversations, you might think that an advance directive, health care proxy, and living will are different names for the same thing, but under New York law, they are all different. These are the healthcare-related estate planning forms used in New York:
- Advance directive is the general term for the healthcare-related portion of your estate plan. It consists of three documents, namely the living will, the healthcare proxy, and if applicable, the do not resuscitate order.
- The living will describes your wishes regarding medical care in the event that you become too ill to communicate your wishes or consent regarding medical treatment. It indicates whether you want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if this would be the only way to keep you alive, whether you consent to intravenous feeding or artificial respiration, and what circumstances would cause you to choose hospice care rather than potentially lifesaving interventions.
- Do not resuscitate order is a document that indicates that you do not want CPR if you stop breathing or if your heart stops.
A healthcare proxy is like a power of attorney except for medical treatment instead of finances. It authorizes a person you trust, known as the healthcare surrogate, to consent to or refuse medical treatment on your behalf. If you have a living will, the healthcare surrogate must follow the instructions in the living will.
Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney
An estate planning lawyer can answer your questions about advance directives. Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.
Source:
ag.ny.gov/publications/advance-directives
