When doing your estate planning, it’s crucial to consider the use of an advance directive. This is a medical document that helps to ensure you get the care that you want later in life.
Remember: Estate planning is not just about assets and financial decisions. You need a comprehensive plan that addresses all potential future outcomes.
What is an advance health care directive?
If you have never considered an advance directive before, you need to know how it works. As noted by the American Cancer Society, it is a document that allows you to consider future care at the present time and make decisions so that, should you find yourself unable to make them at the moment they’re needed, your medical team will still know what you desired.
The problem is that some health issues make it impossible to communicate with medical professionals or even with your family. While cancer can do this in some cases, more common examples are strokes and heart attacks. In the space of just a few minutes, you may find that you cannot tell the medical team what treatment you want and, perhaps even more important to you, what treatment you do not want.
If you make these decisions now and put them in the directive, the medical team has a plan even if they cannot ask for your permission. This can also give your family some peace of mind because they don’t have to worry about making the wrong decision on your behalf.
Setting up a complete plan
As you can see, there is a lot to think about with estate planning. Be sure you know what steps to take to make a complete estate plan and plan for your future needs — whatever those may be. An experienced attorney can help.