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What Can Health Care Agents Decide?
Stethoscope and pen on paperworkFirst a definition: A Health Care Agent is someone who can make health care decisions for you if, for some reason, you are unable to do so yourself. A health care agent is someone you can appoint in your living will or advanced directive documents. By appointing a health care agent, you can relieve your family of the burden and anxiety of making medical choices for you, and you can carefully explain your exact wishes to the health care agent you choose. Health care agents are also sometimes called health care proxies, and they can only make decisions for your health care when you cannot do so yourself.
Benefits of Having A Health Care Agent
You are not required by law to have a health care agent, but having someone to serve in this capacity can be beneficial. People often choose their spouse to be their health care agent if they are married or about to be married. One consideration is that family members may have a difficult time making health care decisions on your behalf. Times such as these can be stressful on loved ones, and there may be disagreements about your medical care. In these cases, the decision often gets made by a court-appointed guardian, administrators at the hospital, or doctors. By appointing a health care agent, you relieve your family of this burden and the anxiety of making these decisions. When you appoint a health care agent, you should spend some time detailing your exact wishes in various scenarios and health care situations.
The Role of A Health Care Agent
When you have a living will - also known as an advance directive - you can detail the type and kind of medical treatments you would wish to receive in various circumstances, and the kinds of treatments you would not want. In the event that you are not able to communicate these wishes to health care providers, your living will can make your wishes known. One duty of your health care agent is to make sure that, if something happens to you where you are unable to make decisions for yourself, the treatment you receive is in agreement with your wishes in your living will. In the absence of an advanced directive, the doctors will ask your health care agent to make these decisions for you.
What Is A Health Care Agent Authorized To Do?
Different states have different laws about what health care agents can do, but, in general, your health care agent will be able to:
Decide the use of life support systems and treatments
Approve or stop treatments that do not improve your condition
Access and release your medical records
Request an autopsy
Donate your organs (unless your living will expressly forbids this)
Authorizations That May Vary By State
You may want to check with the laws in your state, as some states prohibit health care agents from:
Requesting an abortion or sterilization
Refusing life support or other life sustaining treatments
Withdrawing life support or other life sustaining treatments
What A Health Care Agent Cannot Do
Health care agents or proxies cannot make any decisions about your money or be required to pay your bills, including medical bills. Other limitations may vary by state.
How To Choose A Health Care Agent
Because it is such an important role, and selecting the person who will speak for you and make decisions on your behalf if you cannot make them yourself can be overwhelming. A good place to start is to deeply consider your family and friends. Is there anyone you have a deep connection with, who shares your same values, and who is capable of handling such a task? If no one in your circle of family and friends makes a good match for this role, you can consider appointing your attorney as your health care agent.
Some people also name alternative health care proxies in the event that the first choice is unavailable. Always make sure that the people you choose for this role are willing and able to serve in this vital capacity.
How Much Authority Should You Give Your Health Care Agent?
Some people choose to give their health care agent wide authority in regards to medical decisions, while others prefer to restrict the authority and decision making to very specific situations. You do not want to box your agent into an impossible situation by having instructions that are too specific, as circumstances often have variables that are hard to predict. It is a good idea to talk to your doctor about various scenarios and the kinds of decisions that might need to be made in various circumstances.
Making Your Health Care Decisions Legal
To take effect, you will need to make your living will and health care agent choices official. There are legal forms to fill out and file that create a legal document that conveys your wishes for end-of-life care. Some states require that someone witness the signing of these documents, and some states require that the signatures be notarized. Notary publics can be found at banks, libraries, and post offices, but we offer notary services at our offices, too.
When you're a member of our legal subscription plans, your attorney can help you draft a living will and appoint a health care agent as part of your estate planning benefit. As a member, these services are included with your subscription. Learn more about this essential benefit here, or sign up now!
Why A Living Will Is So Important
Woman looking at photographsWhen a person cannot speak for themselves, a living will is an important health care document that is part of an estate plan, and it provides clear directives of a person's wishes, avoiding uncertainty in a difficult time and when loved ones may have differing wishes. A living will differs from a testamentary will in that it does not outline the disposal or distribution of a person's property or assets, but instead, a living will is a statement of a person's wishes as well as a guide for healthcare providers and family members.
What A Living Will Details
A living will - also known as an Advanced Directive - gives a person the right to direct future medical services and health care under circumstances where the person is unable to speak to healthcare providers or consult doctors personally due to incapacitation, a medical condition, or for another reason. This document gives instructions to medical personnel and health care providers for end-of-life situations; for example, directing attending physicians not to administer life-sustaining treatments or artificially administering nutrients or hydration. If such treatments have already begun, a living will may direct physicians to withdraw that treatment. A living will also allows you to appoint a proxy for your health care to help carry out your wishes. Laws vary state-to-state in regards to living wills and other documents, so it is always in your best interests to contact your attorney to discuss these and other estate planning issues.
Some states require that the attending physician and another doctor certify that the patient is permanently unconscious, terminally ill, or facing end-of-life conditions. If a healthcare proxy is named in a living will, that person can help make certain that the patient's wishes are carried out. The healthcare proxy should be someone who knows your wishes and is willing to make sure that those wishes are adhered to. It is also important to keep this information updated and current as your life changes.
Making A Living Will When You Are Well
If you are in good health, you may be asking why you need to have a living will. It is a document that will, hopefully, never be needed, but it can also alleviate stress for you and your loved ones in the event of a catastrophic medical issue or accident. It avoids disagreements among your loved ones at a stressful time, and ensures that what you want to happen is what occurs. Not having a living will has led to families dragging disagreements into court when they cannot agree on a plan to proceed involving a loved one's end-of-life care.
Many people have concerns regarding who makes the decision to administer or withdraw treatments when they cannot make those decisions themselves. A living will is an important and personal document that can avoid years of conflict or uncertainty about what a patient who cannot speak for themselves would want done. An example of this is a Florida case where a young, married woman fell unexpectedly into a coma and remained in that state for several years. Doctors believed that she would not recover and would remain vegetative for the rest of her life. Her husband wanted to remove life-sustaining treatments, but her parents wanted the treatment to continue. The case went to court, and, after a lengthy and expensive trial, the state court decided that the treatments could be stopped, and the woman passed away a few weeks later. This case highlights the importance of a living will, even for young, healthy adults.
If you are interested in preparing a living will as part of your estate planning, and want to make sure that it is legally enforceable in your state, speaking with an experienced, dedicated estate planning attorney is the best course of action. While many law firms charge thousands of dollars to prepare estate planning documents, members of our legal subscription plans get these essential documents prepared at no additional charge. Individuals and families can sign up for our legal subscription plans for just $29.95 per month and begin your living will, testamentary will, and other estate planning documents quickly and easily using our app. After filling out a quick questionnaire in the app, your attorney will contact you with any additional questions and have your documents prepared and ready to file with your state usually within just a few days. And another benefit is that you can update your wills for free at any time when your life changes as long as you’re a member. Learn more about estate planning through our legal subscription plans or sign up today!