Medical Power of Attorney - Choosing Your Agent
In completing your POAs its important to choose an appropriate agent. Here are five criteria to think about in relation to choosing an agent for your medical power of attorney.
1. Personal belief: Since the concept of withholding artificial-life support runs contrary to the teachings of some religions and is a very personal decision, it is helpful to find a healthcare agent who understands your feelings in this regard and whose own beliefs are not contrary to your own.
2. Communication: It is important to choose someone you are comfortable speaking with about your health care wishes and it should be clear to you that not only do they understand them but they will be able to communicate these to your health care providers and family members if necessary.
3. Practical reality: Its critical that the person you choose is willing to accept responsibility and agree to act as your agent - "ready and able to serve".
4. Voice: In choosing an agent be sure that they will be able to speak up and stand firm on your behalf - even if faced with physicians who are advising otherwise or other close family members who disagree.
5. Availability: Make sure this person is likely to be accessible and capable of serving as your agent well into the future.
Colorado Advance Directives and Do Not Resuscitate Orders FAQs
Medical Power of Attorneys, Living Wills, DNRs, CPR Directives. Many clients want to make sure their medical choices are adhered to if they are unable to speak for themselves. To help them understand the basics - what are these documents and what do they do - I have written a brief summary, below. I strongly recommend that all of my clients, friends, and family have these documents completed so that their choices are honored about the care and control of their health care treatment if they cannot speak for themselves. This also avoids the terrible and onerous burden of having their close family members or friends have to go to court to obtain an order allowing them access to the care and treatment of their loved ones, should something happen, if these documents are not complete.
What is an advance directive?
An advance directive tells your doctor what kind of care you would like to have if you become unable to make medical decisions (for example, if you are in a coma). If you are admitted to the hospital, the hospital staff will probably talk to you about advance directives. If you are not hospitalized these documents are still important to have on hand.
A good advance directive describes the kind of treatment you would want depending on how sick you are. For example, the directives would describe what kind of care you want if you have an terminal condition or illness that you are unlikely to recover from, or if you are permanently unconscious. Advance directives usually tell your doctor that you don’t want certain kinds of treatment. However, they can also say that you want a certain treatment no matter how ill you are.
Colorado’s advanced directives are called Medical Powers of Attorney. The signer is making statements in advance about his or her preferences for medical care should he or she be unable to speak for themselves.
What is a medical power of attorney?
A medical power of attorney (POA) for health care states whom you have chosen to make health care decisions for you by allowing you to name an agent to step into your shoes and also allows you to express legally binding decisions about end of life choices. It usually becomes active any time you are unconscious or unable to make medical decisions. A POA is legally binding, so long as the named agent is present. If the agent is not present then the medical personnel will look to the language and wishes expressed in the living will and most likely adhere to the wishes expressed therein.
What is a living will?
A living will is another type of advance directive. It is a written, legal document that describes the kind of medical treatments or life-sustaining treatments you would want if you were seriously or terminally ill.
If your agent for medical power of attorney is not available to speak on your behalf the medical personnel will generally adhere to the wishes expressed in a living will, so long as it is properly executed per Colorado statute.
What is a do not resuscitate order?
A do not resuscitate (DNR) order is another kind of advance directive. A DNR is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. Unless given other instructions, hospital staff will try to help any patient whose heart has stopped or who has stopped breathing. You can use an advance directive form or tell your doctor that you do not want to be resuscitated. Your doctor will put the DNR order in your medical chart. You both must sign this form in advance.
A medical ID allows you to communicate your choice when you cannot speak for yourself. A DNR request is usually made by the patient via a valid form, bracelet or agent named in the medical power of attorney, and allows the medical teams taking care of them to honor and adhere to the patient’s wishes.
In Colorado, CPR and advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) will not be performed if a valid written DNR order or CPR directive form is present. In Colorado, it is typical for emergency medical services personnel who are presented with a valid DNR form, signed by your doctor, or who identify a standard DNR bracelet on you, to comply with the DNR order.
Advanced Directives are an important part of your life planning necessities.
What is a CPR Directive
A CPR directive is similar to a DNR order. The Colorado CPR directive must be signed by both the individual and his/her physician. CPR directives must be immediately visible to emergency personnel. At home, the best locations are right by the front door, on the refrigerator, or by the bedside of a home-bound individual.
For more active clients with strong feelings about CPR directives, I recommend a special no-CPR bracelet or necklace that can be purchased from the Award and Sign Connection or MedicAlert Foundation.
Should you complete your advance directives?
By completing your advance directives, you are making your preferences about your medical care known before its too late. This will spare your loved ones the stress of trying to make decisions about your care and you receiving care against your wishes or beliefs. Any person 18 years of age or older can and should prepare their advance directives. Parents who send their children off to college should make sure the kids have medical POAs completed, so that should something happen they can make medical decisions for their children without having to get a court order for guardianship or conservatorship – same with adults with elderly parents, spouses, and single people.
Review your estate plan to make sure it still fits your life plan.
Many clients have an estate plan in place - but for these documents to really serve the purposes they were created for they sometimes need to be updated as life circumstances change and time marches on.
Periodically reviewing your plan estate plan ensures it accurately reflects your current life plan - both your present needs and your goals going forward. Make sure you review and update your estate plan if your personal or financial situation changes or if a number of years have gone by and for instance your minor children now have children of their own.
Some of the most important triggers for updating your estate plan include:
Divorce. Once your divorce is finalized, your plan should be revised as quickly as possible to reflect your current situation. In addition, you can take steps to protect your heirs from potential future relationships that might impact their legacy unintentionally.
Re-Marriage. If you and your new spouse both have children from a previous marriage or relationship, working with an estate planning attorney is essential to navigate the complexities of providing for the children of both parents.
Birth or Adoption of Children. In addition to providing for your children’s financial future, any good estate plan will also allow you to appoint a legal guardian (both for finances and physical care) in the event you and your spouse die or are incapacitated. The guardian designation should be updated as needed depending on circumstances and should always reflect the best interests of the child/children NOW.
Illness or Injury. If you or one of your family members becomes seriously ill, you may want to consider changing your plan to reflect increased needs and or the creation of trusts for special needs, etc.
Changes in Tax Laws. Tax laws are constantly changing and can dramatically affect your estate plan. An estate lawyer can help ensure that your plan takes advantage of new legislation and makes sure you have a viable, current asset protection plan in place so that your estate avoids taxes as much as possible.
Inheritance. If you receive a large inheritance, this could shift your estate planning considerably. The increased value of your estate may cause you to change how your assets are distributed upon your death, as you might want or need to add trusts for your beneficiaries and or more charitable contributions or both.
These are just a few examples of when a meeting with your estate planning attorney is in order to make sure your estate plan meets your life plan. I am happy to discuss my client's current plans with them any time they feel the need for such a review: and always available to review a new client's "old plan" as part of my complimentary initial consultation.
Seniors Getting Married - Estate Planning Considerations
Seniors getting married and estate planning.
People are getting married later in life. Marriages, with one or both spouses being seniors, retired, and having grown children, have become quite common. And while its fantastic to know that love can blossom at any age and usually children and grandchildren are happy that their parents have companions to spend their later years with, these marriages require unique estate planning considerations.
Estate planning for later life marriages is complicated for a number of reasons. These "senior" marriages can directly impact the inheritance of the children and other family members on both sides. Remarriages also can affect a spouse’s right to alimony payments from a prior spouse, retirement benefits, social security benefits, health insurance, and the spousal medical care obligations. Its important for both spouses to clearly address who their assets are intended to benefit, whether it’s the new spouse, the children and families or a trust – both while the spouses are alive, upon the death of one of them, and when both die.
Other considerations that should be addressed as a part of the estate planning process should include whether long-term care insurance is needed; should income and assets be blended or kept separate; how the primary residence is treated both during life, and upon the death of one spouse, and then both spouses; is a post or prenuptial agreement necessary or advisable as part of the estate planning process; how do the parties wish to pay for future medical expenses (for example, is it advisable to deplete the assets of one spouse first).
People in later year marriages also should consider the conflicts that could arise between the spouse and children should agents named for medical and general powers of attorney need to act. The best way to avoid this is to think these conflicts through in the planning phase and coordinate the choice of fiduciaries in the documents – with the fiduciaries having a clear understanding of the spouse’s agreements to the later life marriage concerns, as delineated above.
Intestate Rules for Non-Married Individuals In Colorado
Singles (aka non-married individuals) often procrastinate about estate planning. If you are one of my friends or colleagues who fall into this category here is a brief summary of who will inherit your assets should something happen to you. By taking the mystery out of what happens I am hoping to alleviate some of the worry and maybe even encourage some proactivity in this regard.
Colorado's intestacy rules are similar to the rules found in other states but don't provide for inheritances by remote relatives, such as distant cousins. State laws set the inheritance rules for the estate of a person who died intestate; however, these rules don't take the financial needs of his heirs into consideration.
If a non-married individual dies with children, their children inherit their estate. If a non-married individual dies with no children then surviving parents inherit his/her entire estate. If both parents are dead, the estate goes to the parents' surviving descendants: for example, the siblings of the deceased person. Surviving grandparents may inherit the estate if the parents have no surviving descendants. If both grandparents are dead, their surviving descendants inherit the estate. In cases where the deceased person's parents and grandparents left no surviving descendants, the estate may go to the state of Colorado.
Colorado's laws allow inheritances by a birth parent who adopted out the deceased person or any birth children the deceased person put up for adoption, but only to prevent the estate from going to Colorado because of a lack of heirs.
Not all property is subject to Colorado intestacy rules, some of it if properly designated/titled can pass out of these intestate rules. Money from retirement accounts, such as 401(k) accounts, and insurance plans go to the person named as the beneficiary on the account or plan paperwork. Property owned with another person as a joint tenant —the family home, for example—belongs to the surviving owner. Any property transferred to a living trust belongs to the trust and isn't subject to intestacy laws. Bank accounts that have another person designated to receive the funds if the account holder dies—known as "payable on death" accounts—pass to that designated person.
Important Documents Locator and Contacts
Clients always ask me how to store their estate planning documents and other important papers once their estate plan is done. I always recommend that they fill out the attached Important Document Locator and Contact Sheet as a part of this process so that family members and friends know who to contact and where to locate important records if necessary. I also recommend that they store their estate planning documents as follows:
Originals. Your original Will should be kept in a safe place, preferably in a fireproof safe or safe deposit box. Your original powers of attorney can be kept in your reference notebook. If you have revised or updated your documents, any old/former documents—including any copies—should be shredded.
Reference Set. If I did your estate plan, you have been provided with a reference set of your documents in an estate planning binder, creating complete set for your records. The copy of the will in this binder is not signed—you have only one valid, executed will, which you should keep pursuant to #1, above. If you decide to provide anyone with a copy of your will, be sure to copy the unsigned, reference will and not the original, signed will.
Copies for Agent. You should provide your agents with copies of your executed Powers of Attorney, both General and Medical. This will enable them to have the documents and act upon them without the necessity of obtaining copies once a disability or other unfortunate circumstance occurs. They should also be told about your complete estate planning binder (if you have one) and where it is located.
Copies for Physicians. You should also provide your physicians with copies of your executed Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will. They will then be able to keep these important documents in your files so that your agents will not have to search for them in the event of illness or accident.
Copies for Home. For clients living alone, especially aged clients, I recommend that copies of your Medical Powers and Living Will be kept in a readily accessible location such as your refrigerator or freezer in the kitchen, along with a note on the refrigerator door indicating that the documents may be found inside. First responders are taught to check the refrigerator door for important medical and pharmacological information. Finding the Medical Power of Attorney and Living Will along with other such information will make their treatment decisions easier, and better insure that your dignity is protected.
Fill out the Important Document Locator and Important Contact Information forms that follow. Keep them in a safe but obvious place such as the inside of a desk drawer or kitchen cabinet near the telephone. This will help your family members and friends in the event of an emergency and also might result in you feeling more organized and in control of your life!
Important Documents Locator and Contacts
DOCUMENT
LOCATION
NOTES
Durable Power of Attorney
Medical Power of Attorney
Original Last Will and/or Trust Documents
Living Will/MOST declaration
Property Deeds
CD Certificates
Personal Banking Accounts
Promissory Notes
Automobile Registrations
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
Medical Insurance
Passports
Retirement/Pension Accounts
Life Insurance Accounts
Credit Card Accounts
Stock and Bond Certificates
Long-term care insurance
Safety deposit box information/key
Internet accounts and passwords information
IMPORTANT CONTACTS
NAME
TELEPHONE NUMBER/EMAIL
Agent for health care power of attorney
Agent for general durable power of attorney
Person named as personal representative in will
Attorney
Accountant
Insurance Providers
HomeAutoLife InsuranceLong-term Care
Primary Care Physician
AdultsChildren
Personal friend/housesitterfamiliar with home
Veterinarian
Child care provider
Children’s school contact
Children’s local guardian
Children’s preferred babysitter
If you have a hard time printing these sheets I am happy to email you a copy either as a PDF or as a word document that you can customize to suit your needs. Just send me an email and let me know.
Medical Power of Attorney: Your Agent and You!
Medical power of attorney: When choosing an agent for your medical power of attorney for health care its important to select someone who will respect your wishes for the care and control of your body should something happen to you. They need to have a good idea of what your feelings and beliefs are in this deeply personal area. Here are some areas to explore with your agent about you:
Lifestyle: How essential are these in terms of your quality of life?
1. Being able to eat and drink 2. Being able to enjoy entertainment, movies, TV, reading, listening to music 3. Physical movement and being able to get outdoors 4. Attending outside activities such as church or other programs 5. Avoiding pain and discomfort 6. Being with loved ones 7. Being self‐sufficient and able to communicate
8. Spirituality. How much of your comfort and support comes from your spiritual practices such as personal pray, meditation, or interaction with a spiritual or religious community?
9. Last days. What are your wishes in regards to the last days of your life? For instance, quiet meditation, lots of friends, or close family members only.
By getting your powers of attorney in place and conveying your wishes to your agent your wishes will be honored and your loved ones spared confusion and last minute guess work.
Disclaimer -- Content is general information only. Information is not provided as advice for a specific matter, nor does its publication create an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary from one state to another. For legal advice on a specific matter, consult an attorney.