How to Plan Ahead for Health Care Decisions
Do you have plans in place to ensure that your health care wishes are honored in the event that you become incapacitated and cannot express your wishes yourself? Many people do not realize that this type of planning is an important component of estate planning in Georgia that all adults should consider. In order to make plans ahead of time for your health care — in the event that you cannot express your wishes yourself any longer — you should reach out to a Norcross estate planning attorney to ask about a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care. At Bowman Law Firm, we can assist you with your Advance Directive in addition to other elements of your estate plan.
Ways of Planning Ahead for Your Health Care
To express your health care wishes in advance — in other words, before the question of certain treatments or care arises — you will need to complete a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care. This is now a single document in Georgia that allows you to provide a range of information about your health care wishes, and who you trust to make decisions on your behalf, in the event of your incapacitation. We will explain the parts of the Advance Directive in more detail below.
In addition, you can plan ahead for the possibility of long-term care needs with your estate planning lawyer, too. You can work with your lawyer on issues of asset protection, purchasing long-term care insurance, and Medicaid planning in the event you become disabled and in need of long-term care services in a nursing home, for example. While this is likely to be a service you will need in older age, it is important to plan far ahead of time in order to avoid costs and penalties.
Elements of a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care
What medical decisions can you make in advance through a Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care?
First, you can express your wishes concerning personal care and medical treatment, including lifesaving or life-prolonging treatment (and whether or not you want to receive this). You can expressly state that you want to have life-sustaining care withdrawn or withheld in the event of a terminal condition or state of permanent unconsciousness. This used to be known as a “Living Will” in Georgia.
Second, you can name an agent to make health care decisions on your behalf if you become incapacitated. This used to be known as a “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care” in Georgia.
Finally, you can nominate a person to serve as your Guardian if you become incapacitated and in need of guardianship under Georgia law.
Contact a Gwinnett County Estate Planning Lawyer
Making plans ahead of time when it comes to health care decisions is not only important for the person making the decisions, but it is also important for their loved ones who will otherwise be tasked with weighty decisions that are often life-and-death decisions. By working with an experienced Gwinnett County estate planning attorney at Bowman Law Firm on a Georgia Advance Health Care Directive, you can give yourself peace of mind and also know that your family members and other loved ones will have clear information about your medical wishes that they can honor.
Source:
aging.georgia.gov/get-advance-directives
