ADVANCE DIRECTIVES

Advance directives are legal documents that detail a person’s choices or appoint someone to make choices for him or her.  This would typically apply in the event that a serious injury or illness makes it impossible for a person to make important financial and health care decisions on his or her own. Advance directives include durable financial powers of attorney, durable medical powers of attorney and a living will. Advance directives offer a way for people to retain a measure of control over their lives and avoid legal disputes – particularly if they wish to withdraw treatments and procedures that would artificially prolong their lives in the event they are terminally ill or in a comatose or vegetative state.  People are able to avoid shifting a heavy emotional burden onto their loved ones by making their wishes clear in advance and sharing their decisions with family members and physicians,

Durable Financial Powers of Attorney

Durable financial powers of attorney allow a person to designate an agent to make financial decisions on his or her behalf. The document can be written to take effect either on signing or in the event of incapacity. When possible, it is advisable to designate not only a primary agent, but also a successor agent. Should something happen to the primary agent, a successor agent will be able to step in. It is obviously important to that a person carefully select an agent who he or she trusts. In some situations, it might be better to select an agent who is not a member of the family. It is also possible to name a professional such as lawyer or accountant as an agent or an entity such as the trust department of a bank as an agent.

Durable Medical Powers of Attorney

Durable medical powers of attorney allow a person to designate an agent to make medical decisions. The document can also include instructions for preferred treatment under certain situations, such as those involving brain damage, comas, resuscitation, ventilators and artificial nutrition and hydration. While it isn’t possible to specify preferences for every possible circumstance, most common end-of-life situations and procedures can be covered.

Living Will

A living will shares similarities with durable medical powers of attorney in that it stipulates the kinds of treatments a person prefers in the event that he or she is terminally ill or in a vegetative state. There are, however, several important distinctions between a durable medical power of attorney and a living will.  A living will offer instructions directly to the health care professionals involved, rather than designating an agent to make health care decisions. Moreover, a living will only takes effect in certain circumstances. In Colorado, a living will applies only to those situations in which a patient is in terminal condition and has lapsed into a coma that has lasted seven days.

Updating Durable Powers of Attorney

While drafting durable financial and medical powers of attorney constitutes an important first step in preparing for what could happen should a person become incapacitated, additional steps are required. Durable powers of attorney should be reviewed and updated on a regular basis – not only to accommodate the changing desires of a person, but also to insure the documents will be followed should the need arise. Physicians, hospitals and financial institutions are reluctant to follow the terms of durable powers of attorney that are too old. Generally speaking, durable powers of attorney should be updated at least every five years. Durable powers of attorney should be stored in a location where they are safe, but also readily accessible to the agents. Do not store durable powers of attorney in a safe deposit box.