Incapacity planning is an important component to any comprehensive long-term plan. The fact is that people generally suffer some type of decline before passing away, and others become incapacitated due to accidents or unexpected catastrophic illnesses. Given the fact that it is very possible that you will indeed become incapacitated at some point in time it is rather reckless to go through life without making any preparations for this contingency. It should be noted that people are routinely … [Read more...] about Include HIPAA Release With Advance Directives
advance directives
Answering Life Support Questions
Most people are aware of the fact that they should have a last Will or some other vehicle of asset transfer in place for the well-being of their loved ones. However, there is another type of Will that everyone should have as well: a living Will. This type of Will has nothing to do with financial matters. With a living Will you state your preferences regarding whether or not you would want to be kept alive via the use of artificial life support systems if you were in a terminal condition that … [Read more...] about Answering Life Support Questions
Advance Health Care Directives Provide Protections
Retirement, estate, and incapacity planning are component facets that elder law attorneys handle in behalf of their clients, and of course these issues are more relevant to those who are in the latter stages of their lives than they are to younger people. Yet, there are no guarantees and we are all aware of the fact that people of all ages are challenged by devastating illnesses and involved in serious car crashes and other accidents each and every day. So the fact is that estate planning is … [Read more...] about Advance Health Care Directives Provide Protections
Living Wills Demystified
Within any legal specialty you are going to find a great many acronyms and rather wordy descriptions defining procedures, instruments, and protocol. Estate planning is no different and because of the financial nature of this discipline there is a lot of ground to cover for anyone who has an interest in the strategies estate planning attorneys routinely employ. Once you understand the basic definition of something like a trust or a will you will invariably find that there are multiple types of … [Read more...] about Living Wills Demystified
Incapacity Planning, Advance Directives, & Your Family
When you look at the statistics, the rapid increase in the numbers of people who are 85 years of age and older is really eye catching. The fact is that you may well live into your mid to late eighties and beyond, and this makes incapacity planning a vital component to any comprehensive preparatory strategy. If you are a widow or a widower and you were to become incapacitated, your various family members may have different ideas about the the way that you would choose to proceed if you were … [Read more...] about Incapacity Planning, Advance Directives, & Your Family
Five Wishes Advance Directive
More and more people are becoming aware of the need to prepare for the end of their lives through advance directives, and this is a positive development. Many of us are reluctant to talk about the subject of death, especially when we are having a conversation with family members who have reached their twilight years. Ironically, the fact is that this is exactly when frank and open discussions about the wishes of our elders is necessary and appropriate. If they don't make their wishes known a lot … [Read more...] about Five Wishes Advance Directive
