One important component of estate planning is a document, usually called a medical directive, which can include a living will, that sets out your wishes for end-of-life care and a health care power of attorney that designates someone to make medical decisions if you are unable to do so. A medical directive addresses important issues that are inevitable, but that most of us don’t want to think about or talk about. Consequently, many people leave their family members and medical providers with no guidance.If you have not executed a medical directive, I strongly recommend doing so. If you do have a medical directive, I suggest you review your document periodically to be sure it still provides the best options for carrying out your wishes.Recently I’ve encountered two situations where medical directives that had been perfectly valid and appropriate at the time they were executed had become potentially useless. In both cases, a family member designated to make end-of-life decisions had subsequently developed dementia that affected their competency to make those decisions.This possibility is one reason why, if your medical directive designates your spouse, it’s wise to name an alternate as well. Your spouse, aging along with you, may not be the most capable person to make hard decisions when the time comes.It’s also a good idea to communicate your specific wishes to both your primary and alternate designees. Discuss with them, as well, whether they believe they will actually be able to carry out your wishes. Unfortunately, I have seen cases where family members, with the most loving of intentions, were so hesitant to make decisions that their inaction violated their loved ones’ last wishes.These conversations are not easy. Yet they are essential. One of my clients recently was faced with the possibility of making end-of-life decisions for her father. Several years earlier, he had executed a medical power of attorney and living will document naming her as his designated agent. At that time, the two of them had talked about his wishes, so she knew the choices he would want her to make.For now, my client was spared the necessity of making these difficult decisions because her father recovered. But, faced with the reality of “someday” contingencies becoming “right now” hard choices, she felt capable of doing what had to be done. She told me that what gave her the strength she needed was not the responsibility of being designated in the living will document. It was the conversations she and her father had had, both at the time he signed the document and during his recent illness.Related: Roll Over 401(K) to IRA, but Keep Your Job Related: With an Increase in Demand, There Are Far Too Few Financial Planners “I made him a solemn promise that I would make the choices he needed and wanted me to make,” she said. “It felt like a vow that I couldn’t ever go back on.”It may not be especially difficult for a family member to agree to become the designated representative in a medical directive. If the agent named in a healthcare power of attorney is in good health, the need to make hard decisions is somewhere in the future and can feel theoretical.But at the time of a medical emergency or a draining final illness, a family member who is frightened, grieving, and exhausted may find actually making those decisions to be the hardest thing they’ve ever had to do.Giving your family members the clarity and direction to make end-of-life decisions for you requires more than putting their name into a document. It requires choosing someone who is willing to carry out your wishes, communicating your wishes to them through conversations, and checking periodically to make sure they are still willing and able to carry out the solemn promise that a medical directive entails.
