Living Wills, Health Care Proxies, and Medical Care Planning
One of the most important parts of estate planning is to make provisions so the people you designate will make medical decisions on your behalf in the event an accident or illness left you unable to do so for yourself. While we all hope to live long and healthy lives, an accident or illness can happen to anyone at any time, so this planning is critical for everyone, no matter what your age or economic situation. At Kraft Law Offices, we work closely with you to make sure you have addressed all aspects of medical care planning, including living wills and health care proxies. Contact a Massachusetts estate planning lawyer from Kraft Law Offices to learn more about our approach to these very practical considerations.
Proper planning for medical emergencies involves several documents, including:
- A HIPAA release form to ensure your designated agents have access to your relevant health information;
- A Health Care Proxy that authorizes your agents to make medical decisions for you when you cannot;
- A Living Will informs your health care agents and doctors of your end-of-life medical wishes;
- A Medical Treatment Directive to help you document the type of treatment you want administered or withheld in various acute situations;
- An Anatomical Gift Form on which, if you choose to do so, you give your consent to the transfer of your organs or body parts after death for transplantation, or other purposes as you specify; and
- A Hospital Visitation directive specifying who should be permitted to visit you if you are admitted to a medical care facility - if those people are other than legally-recognized family, such as an unmarried partner or close friend.
Merely creating these documents is not enough, though. The documents need to be available in an emergency so they actually control your care. To meet this need, we enroll nearly all our clients in DocuBank, which provides copies of these critical documents to medical facilities worldwide via fax or secured internet access.
While documents for medical care planning are important for everyone, they are absolutely critical for anyone who would want non-family members, or only certain family members but no others, to make decisions on their behalf, including same-sex and unmarried couples and lesbian and gay individuals.
A Massachusetts estate planning attorney from Kraft Law Offices will work closely with you to understand your individual situation and needs and tailor documents to meet your specific objectives. To learn more about how best to protect yourself and your loved ones through documents like living wills and health care proxies, contact our office in Boston.
