The Five Wishes and Your Estate Plan

The most important parts of your estate plan have nothing to do with money, at least not on the surface.  Anyone who has ever gotten a medical bill knows that medical decisions are financial decisions.  In general, the more money you have, the healthier you are, because you can work in jobs with a low risk of physical injury, you can afford medical care for management of chronic health conditions, and you have some insulation from financial and non-financial stressors that worsen mental health.  Never mind that, now.  You must base your estate plan on the money you have, not the money you wish you had.  It follows that you should also be honest with yourself about your health; if you are in your 50s and have a chronic health condition that is already interfering with your ability to work, don’t expect that you will be traveling the world in your 80s.  If it is your destiny to enter a nursing home as a Medicaid beneficiary, your estate plan should reflect this.  You can protect your emotional and financial wellbeing and that of the people closest to you by putting your wishes in writing about medical treatment and end of life care.  To ensure that your documents are legally enforceable and accurately reflect your wishes, contact a Washington, D.C. estate planning lawyer.

Five Wishes About Your Medical Treatment and End of Life Care

Maryland law recognizes advance directives and other estate planning documents related to healthcare whether or not they conform exactly to the forms published by the State of Maryland.  Your lawyer can help you ensure that your documents are legally valid.  Additionally, the nonprofit organization Aging With Dignity provides a set of five fillable forms related to healthcare instructions your caregivers should follow if you become too ill to speak for yourself.  The five documents are as follows:

• Healthcare power of attorney – This document indicates the person who should communicate your healthcare wishes to healthcare professionals if you are too ill to do so. It also indicates who should take on this role if the person you originally indicated predeceased you or is also seriously ill or unable to fulfill the function.
• Advance directive – Also called a living will, this document specifies which potentially life-prolonging medical care you want, including but not limited to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), artificial respiration with a ventilator, or intravenous nutrition or a feeding tube.
• Palliative care instructions – This document outlines the circumstances in which you want palliative care instead of medical interventions designed to prolong your life. It also indicates the level of pain relief you want.
• Interpersonal interactions – In this document, you indicate the people that you want to be allowed to visit you in the hospital or nursing home and which religious care, if any, you want.
• Funeral plans – This includes instructions about your wishes for your funeral or memorial service. If it mentions your plans for final disposition of remains, these should match the instructions in your will.

Whether you fill out pre-existing forms or draft your own documents from scratch, you should review them with a lawyer.

Contact Tobin O’Connor Ewing About Planning for End-of-Life Care

A Washington, D.C. estate planning attorney can help you prepare the healthcare-related aspects of your estate plan.  Contact Tobin, O’Connor, and Ewing in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.

Sources:

agingwithdignity.org/programs/five-wishes/

marylandattorneygeneral.gov/Pages/HealthPolicy/AdvanceDirectives.aspx