Health Care FAQ
Which legal forms are relevant to my health care?
Many of the legal forms you’ll sign relating to your health care are among the most important you’ll ever come across. Common forms include Power of Attorney for Health Care, an Advanced Health Care Directive, a Living Will and Authorization to Disclose Health Information. Each legal form has its own responsibilities and characteristics, but all are aimed at providing a legal ground for and proof of your health care wishes.
These core health care forms should all be considered essential, especially as you advance in age and your health care risk factors become more pronounced. Many of these forms are straight-forward and often only need to be used once.
Which health care forms should I sign and prepare?
Although we recommend that you consult a lawyer to fully explore all of your health care legal options, we can suggest some of the most important forms that you should seriously consider preparing:
- Power of Attorney for Health Care: This limited Power of Attorney will still have major ramifications on the type of health care you’ll receive when you are incapable of making your own decisions.
- Advanced Health Care Directive: Outlining your health care wishes in advance of becoming medically incapacitated will let your family and doctors know how you would like to be treated even when you are incapable of expressing that in the present.
- Living Will: Though called a “will,” this document does not address your estate. Rather it addresses what kind of treatment you want to receive in circumstances that don’t allow you to express your own decision.
- Anatomical Gifts: Donating your organs is not always as simple as having a sticker on your driver’s license. If you truly want your organs donated after your death, it will be important to have the proper forms filed for all situations.
Be sure that you understand the questions resolved in each form to truly get a handle on all of your health care directives before signing any individual document.
When is it too late to use health care forms?
In one word: never! Even if you’re not physically healthy, your ability to make decisions for yourself is still a power you can exercise. However, mental incap0acitation will invalidate the document.
I’m young. Can’t I wait to use these health care forms?
This is a common misconception. Although youth does represent a reduced risk for many health care issues, it does not provide immunity. Events outside your control, including unexpected illness, disease or injuries, can still require that you have these health care forms prepared. Even if you’re young and have no children to provide for, you’ll still want to make sure that your health care wishes are carried out in the event of your incapacitation. Additionally, you can appoint trusted family members to be your Power of Attorney for Health Care. You have a lot of powers under the law and it’s important that you take action to use them no matter what your age.
Should I use documents designed for my state?
Yes, all of the health care documents that you use should be prepared specifically for use in your home state. Because each state has its own laws regarding health care issues like these, you’ll want to make sure that what you sign is fully compliant with those laws – otherwise it could render much of the form invalid.
This applies to just about all health care forms, so be sure that the ones you use are properly prepared and designed for your home state.
What is Power of Attorney for Health Care, and how does it differ from other powers of attorney?
Power of Attorney for Health Care is exactly what it sounds like – it allows someone else (in your stead) to make key decisions on your behalf. Typically a “Power of Attorney” refers to signatory power – someone can sign checks in your name, for example. When it comes to Power of Attorney for Health Care, however, those powers are limited to medical decisions. A Power of Attorney for Health Care will have the power, for example, to disclose some of your confidential medical information should the need arise.
It’s important to have a Power of Attorney for Health Care named for certain circumstances, including incapacitation (such as being unconscious after a car accident). This will allow for a trusted individual to make decisions on your behalf that keep your health care functioning as it should. Because you alone are capable of disclosing your confidential medical information, you will have to have someone in your stead if you’re incapable of doing so for yourself.
How do I express my wishes for future health care?
Using an Advance Health Care Directive (consisting of your wishes, as well as two documents, the Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Living Will) is the most legally-effective way to make your medical wishes known. You will be able to outline which life saving measures you want used in the event of your incapacitation, choose to receive artificial life support, and you can additionally make additional instructions that aren’t typically covered in the range of health care forms available to you.
Doesn’t an Advance Health Care Directive cover everything?
Although an Advance Health Care Directive deals with your wishes for medical care in the future, it does not necessarily “cover everything.” It does, however, contain two key documents: the Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Living Will. These two documents are very powerful in the influence they have in your future health care, which is why some people believe an Advance Health Care Directive covers just about everything.
There are other questions that you may want to answer, however, which is why it’s important to use all of the forms at your disposal if you have specific wishes (such as organ donation). Having an Advance Health Care Directive is crucially important and will resolve most future health care issues in the event of your incapacitation, but there is always more you can do.
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How to Discuss Living Wills with Your Loved Ones
Although it is a well-known fact that dying is a part of living, nothing is more awkward than trying to discuss end-of-life arrangements with your loved ones. Learn how to break the ice and discuss this critically important issue with your parents, spouse and others who are dear to you…
There is a natural hesitancy to avoid subjects that are painful, and nothing is more difficult than facing the idea that those closest to you will eventually die. Although not a comfortable topic, it is vital that you discuss end-of-life care and options with your family before you encounter a situation in which you lose control of medical decisions.
What is a Living Will?
A living will, or advanced directive, describes an individual’s wishes for medical treatment. For example, a living will may contain instructions not to resuscitate an individual should their heart stop. It may also detail to what extent you want to receive medical treatment and to what lengths medical personnel should go to keep you alive.
Without a living will, hospitals and doctors are legally obligated to take every step possible to keep someone alive for as long as possible. In some cases, this can result in years spent on a respirator even after an individual is declared brain dead.
Starting a Discussion on Living Wills
Ask any adult who has broached the subject of dying with their parents or spouse, and they will undoubtedly agree that it an awkward discussion at best. However, putting off this discussion until ‘later’ is a mistake that can have life-shattering consequences. No matter how young or healthy someone may seem, life is fragile and an accident or unexpected illness can occur quickly and with devastating consequences.
Below are some options to consider when starting a discussion on living wills:
Enlist the Help of a Doctor: If your parents are aging, end-of-life discussions should be a natural part of their medical care. Federal privacy laws prohibit doctors from sharing any medical information with you. However, it would not be inappropriate to call the doctor’s office before an appointment and ask if the physician could mention living will arrangements during a check-up.
Create Your Own Living Will: Many people avoid the subject of living wills because they feel that they may offend their loved ones; that by bringing up the subject, they somehow imply they are expecting their family’s immediate death. Rather than approach the subject from that perspective, you can change the tone of the conversation by creating your living will first. Then, discuss its provisions with your loved ones and ask if they have one prepared. If not, offer to gather the appropriate forms for them.
Be Matter-of-Fact: As mentioned previously, dying is a part of living. Everyone knows that. At the start of your conversation, acknowledge how uncomfortable the subject is, but explain that you want to be prepared for the unexpected. Convey to your loved ones that you are only asking because you love them and want to ensure their wishes are respected.
Once you have approached the subject, let the other person’s response be your guide. If your loved one is not receptive, don’t push the subject. Sometimes, people need time to think about the topic before they are ready to create a living will.
Most of all, never be…
• Demanding
• Insensitive
• Selfish
Being heavy-handed about the subject is guaranteed to back-fire and will only serve to hurt feelings.
Where to Find Living Will Documents
While estate planning attorneys can assist in drawing up living wills, you can avoid the expense by creating your own. At FindLegalForms.com, living wills and other estate planning documents are available for your use. These documents are prepared by attorneys and meet all legal requirements.
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Why Having a Living Will Could Save Your Life
Though many people confuse a “living will” with an actual “will,” the distinction between the two is one of the most important legal distinctions you could ever make. Your will deals with what you want to happen to your estate after you’ve passed on. But your living will deals with what you want to happen to you while you’re still alive!
Needless to say, the difference is more than stark. And that’s why it’s important to recognize that it’s not enough to simply have a will; you also need a living will to address questions that could become very important to you and your family right away.
But what exactly are those questions, and how might they save your life? That’s exactly what we’ll address right here.
Defining the Living Will
The living will is essentially something you write out in advance in order to give instructions to doctors when you are unable to do so yourself. While the idea is simple, the legal concept of a living will has only been around in the United States since the 1960s, when the first living wills were crafted out of existing estate laws.
A living will is essentially the medical direction you leave behind in case you are unable to make your own medical decisions for yourself. For example, a living will might spell out that if you were ever to enter a persistent vegetative state, that you would not want to continue on life support (usually, this means being fed and given water).
As you can see, a living will is indeed a document that could save your life one day.
But there’s more to a living will than answering the question of whether or not you want doctors to “pull the plug.” A number of medical issues can be addressed, and generally these directions can be as specific or as general as you want them to be. Generally, the more specific, the better in terms of framing a clear legal document.
How to Approach Your Living Will
You might be able to download a bill of sale and get rid of your old motorcycle in a day, but the living will is a document that needs a lot of attention and care. You’ll want to ask yourself fundamental questions about how you want to be treated in certain medical conditions – for example, if you want life support sustained, it’s important that you outline that desire specifically in your living will.
It’s also important to consider that a living will offers direction and guidance to your loved ones, who in these extreme cases will find themselves enduring a heavy burden. Making sure that your clear, definite wishes are expressed in a living will is not only crucial for your medical decisions, but for easing the worry of these loved ones.
The living will is truly a life-or-death document, and it raises some amazingly profound questions. That’s why it’s better to start answering them now rather than later.
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Health Care Forms
Health Care forms related to health matters. These forms include Living Will, Powers of Attorney related to your health, Advance Health Care Directive and Organ Donation forms. An Authorization for use when disclosing health information is also included.
Popular These Estate Planning Combo Packages are specifically designed to provide you with an array of estate planning documents. Estate planning forms contained within the packages are Wills, Powers of Attorney, Advance Health Care Directives and Organ Donation forms for use in variety of situations and for individuals with or without children.
Great Value - Health Care Combo Package which contains the forms most frequently used in health care matters. Included are forms related to organ donation, living will, health care power of attorney and an agreement which will revoke an existing health care power of attorney.
Popular - Powers of Attorney Combo Package containing forms related to health care matters. Included are Durable Powers of Attorney (Effective Immediately and Upon Disability), General Power of Attorney and one for Care of Children and a Notice and Revocation of General Power of Attorney.
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Advance Health Care Directive which allows you to identify the care you want to receive in the event you are incapacitated or unable to express your wishes. This... View More
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Anatomical Gifts (Organ Donation) Agreements which will effectively set out your wishes regarding donation of your organs upon your demise. Along with these... View More
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Authorization to Disclose Health Information allows an individual the flexibility to determine what types of health-related information they wish to release. This... View More
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A Living Will allows you to make decisions about your health care in the event you become incapacitated. Living Wills allow you to direct the withholding or... View More
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Popular - Power of Attorney for Health Care which allows you to appoint another person to make health care decisions on your behalf. This form sets out the name of the... View More
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