Widows must make a living will and medical power of attorney after the husband’s death

July 19, 2021 0 Comments

A woman who recently lost her husband faces many legal and financial problems. One of those problems is who will make medical decisions for her if she cannot make them herself? If you made medical decisions for your husband before his death, you are well aware of the difficulties your family will face if you do not have a living will and power of attorney.

A medical power of attorney designates a family member or other trusted person to make medical decisions if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. A living will is a document that expresses your wishes regarding the use of artificial life support if there is no reasonable expectation of recovery. In other words, you name the decision maker in a medical power of attorney and tell the decision maker what decisions you want them to make in a living will.

A health care proxy and patient advocate designation are different names for essentially the same document.

Important points

· You cannot sign a power of attorney if you are incompetent; so planning ahead is essential.

Name an alternate person to act if the first person you name is not available or unable.

The person you designate as your agent should know how you feel about artificial life support if there is no reasonable expectation of your recovery. Your job is to communicate your decision to the doctors, not yours.

You will help your family, especially the person you name, make decisions for you if you tell them in person how you feel about artificial life support.

Everyone should have a medical power of attorney. Otherwise, no one is allowed to make medical decisions if you cannot do it yourself. Doctors and hospitals often allow one spouse to make decisions for the other spouse without a power of attorney. But doctors and hospitals generally do not allow children, siblings, parents, or friends to make medical decisions for someone else without a medical power of attorney.

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