Next Level Adulting Part Three: Advance Directives
This one is about advance directives (and powers of attorney) to give you another introduction to this topic. We will talk about what this all means, and why this should be the part of estate planning that you should put in place soon!
Okay, so what is this exactly? Advance directives are a set of instructions for who is allowed to do what if you become incapacitated in some way, such as being in a coma, suffering brain damage, or experiencing dementia. Most often, this refers to the ability to make medical decisions on your behalf. For the purposes of this blog post, I’m including here powers of attorney, since these also give people the ability to act on your behalf if you become unable to for any reason.
In this post, we’ll talk about all of the various forms of this kind of designation. More specifically, we’ll discuss what is a (financial) power of attorney, and advance healthcare directive, which includes a living will and medical power of attorney.
Financial Power of Attorney is a legal document that allows someone to make financial decisions on your behalf. This could be as simple as doing transactions at the bank or as complex as managing all of your finances. You don’t have to be incapacitated to set one up, these kinds of documents can be helpful if you are abroad, or just need an additional person to be able to make financial decisions for you. Having this kind of power of attorney does not include the ability to make any medical or health decisions on your behalf. The type of financial POA that stays in effect if you become incapacitated is called a durable power of attorney, but that person still cannot make medical decisions for you.
Advance Healthcare Directives comprise two different things. The first is a living will which specifies your preferences for medical decisions. For example, do you want to be put on life support? Are you okay with transfusions or transplants? Do you want to donate your body to science? A very simple form of your living will is signing up to be an organ donor, which in the United States, you can do when you get a driver’s license. The second part is the medical power of attorney, which allows someone that you choose to make medical decisions on your behalf if you should become incapacitated in any way.
I saved this topic for the end, because I think it’s one of the hardest to think about. It’s not just what happens if you die, it also includes what happens if you have permanent brain damage, or if you have a psychotic break, or if you are in a coma. Those are tough things to think about because they can feel like a kind of limbo between life and death, where you are alive, but not living in the sense of the word that you are used to.
You made it to the end of this post, and the end of the series! Congratulations to you, and I hope this helps you make great decisions in your life as you consider your options.
