Health Care Directives

A Health Care Directive goes by many names, including:

• Health Care Power of Attorney
• Living Will
• Health Care Proxy
• Advance Directive

The Minnesota Health Care Directive is a comprehensive document that includes the components of both a Health Care Power of Attorney or Proxy (naming an agent) and Living Will (expressing your wishes). The bare minimum is naming your agent, but I encourage my clients to consider their wishes of end-of-life care. I have an optional Questionnaire that will help guide you through this.

For my Wisconsin clients, we usually do a Health Care Power of Attorney and write in some of your special instructions.

Name Someone to Act For You In Case of Emergency

This document gives the person you name as your agent the authority to make a wide range of medical decisions on your behalf in the event that you are unable to decide (understand) or communicate your wishes.  It also gives your agent access to your medical information and authority to fully participate with your treating physicians in deciding the care you receive. Your agent’s job is to carry out your wishes, so this should be someone who knows you well and that you trust to follow through.

Be Prepared for Incapacity

Although Health Care Directives are often used in emergency situations, they can also help avoid the need for a court-managed guardianship when there is long-term incapacity, such as dementia or traumatic brain injury.

Like the Financial Power of Attorney, this is for use during your lifetime, so it is technically “incapacity planning” rather than “estate planning.” But I offer it as part of the estate planning package because it is convenient for you to do it with your other legal documents.

A Health Care Directive Offers Empowerment

Even though the Health Care Directive is a relatively minor component of an estate plan from a legal standpoint, it’s one I feel very passionately about. Our culture is uncomfortable with loss and grief; we tend to ignore it and pretend that it won’t happen. Thinking about the dying process, while it may sound sad or scary, can actually be very empowering both for you and your loved ones. It helps clarify your wishes and ensure that they will be followed.