Advance directive

[dennis in se pa]

Personal care related.

Seems to be a good thing. It seems it makes it possible to keep the healthcare industry from completely emptying your bank account. Leave something for your heirs. Do I understand this correctly? I would consult a lawyer of course.

[flatbutt]

Absolutely. I did it years ago along with a real estate trust just in case. If my advanced directive somehow gets messed up my house is still protected.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Is this like a Trust with a Life Estate?

[hcoles]

I was just going to post on this.

What are the sorts of items that can or should be in a Durable Medical Power of Attorney?
As I understand this is one place to list medical directives.
E.g.:
- don't restart my heart
- don't use breathing machines or feeding tubes
- my agent is John Doe with backup agent Jane Doe

Durable means it continues to take effect after the person can no longer communicate or make medical care decisions. It terminates upon death.

Hopefully there are some lawyers here knowledgeable that can chime in.

[SCadaddle]

You've got to read the proposed "directives" very carefully. My Dad used a CPAP machine to sleep for probably 30 years. Then at age 96 winding up in the hospital, the CPAP machine was discontinued and he was prescribed 2 liters/minute oxygen via an oxygen concentrator for sleep. It worked wonderfully for the last year and a half of his life in an assisted living environment.

So the question came up "Do you feel your life is not worth continuing should it depend on being hooked up to machines" or the sorts of wording, and I pointed out his reliance of the oxygen concentrator for sleep replacing the CPAP machine. Heart and lung machines if required to keep him alive, no, we weren't going to go that route. But the oxygen concentrator, yes, we were willing to "allow him to be hooked up to a machine" for that.

[Dueller]

A number of different tools accomplishing show more results from state to state. Maybe call Declaration of intent, advance directive , living will , Etc. Basically it communicates what you wish decisions to be at the end of your life when you are no longer capable or cognizant enough Tio make the decision yourself. Generally forms are available at hospitals and their social work department in a form that you can fill out yourself with your directive. It's the biggest blessing you can give your survivors so they don't have to anguish over what you want. I'm not sure I understand the comment about protecting your house from medical creditors.

I have some generic fill in the blank ones on my laptop I'll post later pretty much self-explanatory

[PorscheGAL]

You need to see an estate planning attorney. Every state will have different laws. Even if you put your wishes in writing sometimes your family or whomever you designate as in charge of your affairs can choose to ignore your wishes. So, in addition to sitting down with the attorney, you need to have a real conversation about your wishes with your family.

[reachme]

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth"-Mike Tyson

My parents put together a very clear quality of life plan they agreed on and briefed us on for the past 20+ years.
Now as they face these real world decisions they are consistently choosing the exact opposite.
When they are not able to make these decisions themselves we as a family are now more confused than ever and I expect a big problem. Nobody really wants to go wave the paper back in their face reminding them of their desire to exit gracefully, not seek expensive treatments, risky operations. Who becomes the death advocate when they change their mind in practice?

I used to think these were a good idea until this and now I am totally disillusioned. The will to live is a very powerful thing.

"Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to go now"

[wdfifteen]

^^
Sounds like it's time to have them revisit the plan, either change it or reaffirm it.

The policy at the elder care place where my parents were was to ignore DNR orders. They weren't going to be the ones to pull the plug. Residents would stop breathing, be resuscitated by the staff nurse, get taken to the ER, where they have to treat them, DNR orders or not. So an advance directive isn't worth a whole lot in emergency situations - at least in Ohio.

[pavulon]

Going through this right now with my mom. Life long smoker, pneumonia, new onset atrial fibrillation led to respiratory failure, ICU, intubation and mechanical ventilation for several days. Now off the breathing tube and on/off of BiPAP. She has advance directives stating no breathing tube or feeding tube but accepted both as a way to get past this time (hopefully). She’s pretty miserable right now so I spoke to her about the situation and asked how she wanted to proceed last night. Brother is totally pissed about that conversation.

My point here is that situations tend to drive decisions and that situations evolve. Paperwork seems neat and tidy and I do support having it in place but people need to talk about stuff like this before and during tough times. When it goes to the mat, not everyone will want a few pieces of paper standing between them and tomorrow.

As always, Ymmv.

[flatbutt]

My AD states that no rescue or heroic efforts be used to extend my life.