Living Will Power Of Attorney
What is the difference between a living will and power of attorney?
does a person with POA see to it that a living will is carried through – or are they legally seperate things?
A living will is a standard document that purports to cover how you’d want to be treated medically if you can’t speak for yourself. You can put as much or as little information in it as you wish. There are many such forms available online and through various organizations. However, there are things to consider:
“Living wills of all sorts pose other problems. One study summarized them this way: that most people don’t have them; that most people can’t truly know what they’d want in a hypothetical future; that they have trouble stating their wishes clearly; that the living will frequently wouldn’t be available when it’s needed; and that finally, even if it is available, surrogates can’t necessarily reliably apply what is in it to the situation at hand
(http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2004/livingwills.htm).
In 1995, a SUPPORT Study costing $28 million and relying on many centers found that in hospitals in the U.S. that critically ill patients were not receiving the care they wanted or needed. Interventions that had been created to improve care of the dying “had no effect as physicians continued to ignore advance directives, living wills and patient wishes”
(http://www.jhu.edu/gazette/aprjun97/jun2397/bioeth.html).”
–A Matter of Life and Death: Informed Advance Health Care Directives by Michael J Laurence
There are also advance health care directives which are more oriented toward living than the typical living will, which arose out of the concern that people would be trapped into prolonged dying from medical intervention.
A health care power of attorney is not as easily found online or for free, but it can be done. You need to ask the person if he is willing to serve as your POA AND you two need some in-depth and INFORMED discussions on the boundaries of what you want done because that person WILL be your voice when you can’t speak. You should have more than one such POA, but rank them, in case your first choice is unavailable. (If you select someone you love, what if you’re both in a very serious accident–you could BOTH be incapable of communicating.)
Frankly, the medical, legal, and spiritual issues are complex. There is a good book that walks people through how to do this sensibly. That’s where the quote came from–A Matter of Life and Death.
The book also recommends a durable financial power of attorney–explains what it is, how to get one, etc. People are too reluctant to get these necessary documents in order and have the even more important discussions that are needed. Most people do NOT have the medical training to grasp what’s going on if it’s truly a crisis and if they never had a meaningful discussion with the patient, HOW are they to decide what to do?
BTW, much of what the media disperses about comas, brain death, etc. is actually inaccurate. Reading a book such as Kate’s Journey by Kate Adamson, shows you the perils of people giving advice when they’re out of their field. Kate was basically written off after a stroke (and she was young, healthy, and had the less common type of stroke). Her attorney husband fought for her. Today not only does she do motivational speaking and writing, but she’s walking and caring for her daughters. In fact, she just wrote another book Paralyzed but Not Powerless.
The POA is frankly more important than the living will, but the POA needs to know what you REALLY want done.
Living Wills and Powers of Attorney
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Writing a Living Will: Using a Durable Power-of-Attorney – Paperback $1.58 |
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Living Will with Durable Power of Attorney CD $9.99 |
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Socrates – K306 – Living Will & Power of Attorney for Health Care Kit – Forms, R $39.95 |
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Last Will &Testament Living Will Power of Attorney Self Help Forms Kit FREE SHIP $49.99 |
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Socrates Media Living Will&Power of Attorney For Health Care Kit $30.79 |
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Socrates Media- LLC SOMK306 Living Will-Power of Attorney For Health Care Kit $40.05 |
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American Will Kit Legal Living Will & Power of Attorney $19.99 |
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Will Maker 5 MAC CD living will, financial power of attorney, legal documents $6.99 |
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Socrates Media K306 Socrates Living Will & Power Of Attorney For Health Care Kit $30.40 |
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Living Will Forms-Papers/With Durable Power Of Attorney $19.95 |
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The Family Guide to Long-term Care-Six Volume Set [VHS] $149.70 When older adults experience changes caused by the aging process, it’s difficult for families to know how to begin managing their loved ones’care, deal with difficult emotions, and make informed decisions. Through the Family Guide to Long-term Care series, you’ll find answers to the questions that families so often encounter. These volumes are filled with indispensable knowledge that will benefi… |
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Advance Medical Directives $89.95 What are your wishes for end-of-life care? Advance Medical Directives are legal documents that allow you to give direction to your future medical care. Just like your right to free speech and religious freedom, it is your right to accept or refuse medical care. Advance Medical Directives help protect this right. Something to think about…long before you need it…. |
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Suze Orman Will & Trust Kit $19.95 This is an easy-to-use and fast way for you and other members of your household to create your own advance directive, also known as a living will, durable power of attorney for health care, living revocable trust, and all the other must-have documents you need to protect you and your family. Its as easy as 1-2-3simply personalize, print, and protect. Suze Orman and her own estate trust attorne… |
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2012 Estate Planning in Louisiana 2nd Edition: A Layman’s Guide to Understanding Wills, Trusts, Probate, Power of Attorney, Medicaid, Living Wills & Taxes $19.94 You’ve worked hard building your estate — whether large or small. Louisiana’s estate planning laws are different from all other states’ law. This book will teach you what you need to know to protect your estate for yourself and your loved ones. You will discover how to: Avoid or minimize Louisiana and federal death taxes, protect your estate from the increasing cost of long term care, minimize or… |
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The Easy Will and Living Will Kit (Easy Will & Living Will Kit) $10.43 Simple forms that protect and save money for you and your family. Admit it. You have been thinking about getting together all the documents you need to protect yourself and your family should something unexpected happen. But the thought of the time it would take and the amount of work involved has just seemed like too much. Not anymore.The Easy Will and Living Will Kit provides all the documents y… |
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Quicken WillMaker Plus 2012 $17.31 This easy-to-use software provides the legal forms you need to create an effective estate plan that’s valid in your state*.For each document of your prehensive estate plan Quicken WillMaker Plus guides you through a series of interview screens. If you have any questions about your document simply glance over at the onscreen legal guide or navigate to the prehensive legal manual. Expert tech suppor… |
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Quicken WillMaker Plus 2012 [Download] $20.87 Create a complete estate plan quickly, easily, and privately with bestselling software Quicken WillMaker Plus 2012. A market leader for over 25 years, Quicken WillMaker Plus guides you step-by-step to create a customized estate plan including: • Will• Health Care Directive• Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare• Executor Documents• Durable Power of Attorney for Fin… |
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Quicken WillMaker Premium 2012 with Living Trust Maker Software – 2 Titles Included in 1 Package. $27.68 2 Titles Included in 1 Package– Your Will The heart of every estate plan is a will, also known as a last will and testament. This legal document puts you in control of who inherits your property and who would assume guardianship of your children if it were ever necessary. Without a will, state law will determine these issues. Your will allows you to name an executor (“personal representative”) wh… |
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USB DRIVE MD ALERT BRACELET – GOLD PLATED (SPEAKS FOR YOU WHEN YOU CAN’T!) $19.99 Our USB Drive MD Alert Bracelet custom USB flash drive for storage and retrieval of emergency medical information by EMT personnel. Product features a secure database for detailed entries of medical history for EMT’s – even when you can’t respond! Flash drive goes wherever you go. Includes sections for living wills, power of attorney and test lab results. It even gives you a snap shot of your fil… |
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USB DRIVE MD ALERT BRACELET – SILVER PLATED (SPEAKS FOR YOU WHEN YOU CAN’T!) $19.99 Our USB Drive MD Alert Bracelet custom USB flash drive for storage and retrieval of emergency medical information by EMT personnel. Product features a secure database for detailed entries of medical history for EMT’s – even when you can’t respond! Flash drive goes wherever you go. Includes sections for living wills, power of attorney and test lab results. It even gives you a snap shot of your fil… |
