Advance
Directives
Paul L. Hicks
Because of the attention to the Terry Schiavo case
in Florida a few years back, there has been a renewed
interest in Advance Directives. While Advance
Directives are known by different names, the term
Advance Directives generally refers to documents
in three categories: Medical Powers of Attorney;
Living Wills; and Financial Powers of Attorney.
Often these days we combine the Medical Power of
Attorney and Living Will into one document. The
Combined Medical Power of Attorney/Living Will
and Financial Power of Attorney are the documents
that allow you to control your life and determine
who will handle your affairs should you become
incapacitated. These Advance Directives extend your
individual autonomy. Further, without these written
directives, you (and your family) may face prolonged,
painful, and invasive therapies that would not be what
you really wanted or deny you treatment the could
have otherwise relieved your pain and provide you
comfort.
Living Will
A living will is your written expression of how
you want to be treated in certain medical conditions.
Depending on state law, this document may permit
you to express whether you wish to be given lifesustaining treatments in the event you are terminally
ill or injured. You have the ability to decide in
advance whether you wish such treatment as being
provided nourishment via intravenous and other
devices (“tube feeding”), analgesia (pain relief),
Medical Power of Attorney
A Medical Power of Attorney (also sometimes
known as a Durable Power of Attorney for Health
Care) allows someone you trust to make healthcare
decisions on your behalf if you are unable to do so
yourself.
The individual named as your Medical Power of
Attorney helps your doctors determine when lifesupporting measures should be stopped. If your
wish is to not use life-sustaining measures, you can
convey this to the person you have selected, and
they will be able to express and fulfill your wishes
on your behalf. A Medical Power of Attorney only
has this responsibility for your healthcare decisions,
and cannot make financial or other decisions on your
behalf.
Durable Power of Attorney
A Durable Power of Attorney can act on a person’s
behalf when that person becomes incapacitated.
People who are somehow incapacitated (such as
suffering from dementia or senility) and are no
longer competent to make their own decisions,
need to have someone they trust continue to make
financial decisions for them, long after they have
lost the capacity to do so. A Durable Power of
Attorney appoints that trusted individual to make
those decisions and avoids the costly and sometimes
painful experience of a Guardianship process
(sometimes referred to as “living Probate”). These
financial powers of attorney should be very detailed
and explicit because courts will construe them to be
photo: susandaniels/istockphoto
The Importance of
the use of ventilators, and to give other medical
directions that impact the end of life such as a Do
Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. A living will applies in
situations where the decision to use such treatments
may prolong your life for a limited period (with no
realistic medical hope of recovery) and not obtaining
such treatment would result in your death. Unlike the
Medical Power of Attorney, the Living Will does not
name someone to make decisions on your behalf; it
is a statement of your wishes in regard to end of life
treatment. Not only is this important for the treating
physician but also can be very helpful and comforting
to your family when they are trying to make an
important decision about your continued care.
see Directives, page 19
West Virginia Farm Bureau News 7