Five Wishes Can Simplify Your Estate Plan

The websites of estate planning lawyers and financial planners often encourage you to start your estate plan by making wishes.  They tell you to envision yourself watching Broadway shows with your friends during the summer and walking on the beach on the Gulf Coast of Florida with your spouse in the winter.  Once you meet with a live person, though, he or she tells you that it is time to be realistic.  You should not expect money to magically appear in your retirement savings or expect to be healthier in 20 years than you are today.  One area of estate planning where you should let your wishes guide you is your end of life care.  You have the right to spend your last days at home with your family instead of being intubated in a hospital if that is what you choose.  Writing down your wishes about medical treatment to which you do and do not want to consent if you become too ill to speak for yourself is as important a part of your estate plan as writing your will.  For help expressing your wishes related to your future healthcare, contact a Bronx estate planning lawyer.

Introducing the Five Wishes for End-of-Life Care

Aging With Dignity is a nonprofit organization that provides a packet of fillable forms called the Five Wishes, in which seniors can express their wishes about the care they want to receive if they become severely ill and unable to speak for themselves.  It is designed for people who are building their estate plans without the help of a lawyer.  Your estate planning lawyer can help you address these wishes in writing so that they are enforceable under New York law.

• The first wish takes the form of a healthcare proxy, which specifies who has the right to consent to medical treatment on your behalf if you are too ill to voice your consent; it is the medical equivalent of a power of attorney.
• The second wish takes the form of a living will, where you indicate the life-prolonging interventions you want to receive if you are at risk of dying without them, such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and intravenous nutrition.
• The third wish relates to pain relief. If you are terminally ill, would you want to live longer with more pain or live a shorter time with less pain?
• The fourth wish relates to interpersonal interactions. Which family members can visit you in the hospital or nursing home?  Which religious practices do you want to participate in during your final illness?
• The fifth wish is a letter you want your family or friends to read after you die or toward the end of your life, including things you want to be sure to tell them if it is your last chance.

Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Bronx Estate Planning Attorney

An estate planning lawyer can answer your questions about estate planning documents such as the healthcare proxy and living will.  Contact Cavallo & Cavallo in the Bronx, New York to set up a consultation.

Source:

agingwithdignity.org/programs/five-wishes/