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Once you become an adult, you can make decisions about your medical care. This is true even if you become incapacitated and can’t express those decisions. Establishing a health care proxy is one way to ensure that your wishes are respected, even in incapacity.
What is a health care proxy?
A health care proxy is the person that you give a durable power of attorney for your health care decisions. This person has the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. They will be called upon to do so if you lose the ability to communicate those decisions to others.
A health care proxy isn’t just someone you trust to make decisions about your medical needs. It is someone who makes decisions in line with your desires. This is why you should take care when choosing a proxy.
How to Choose a Health Care Proxy
Designating a proxy is relatively easy. There are only a few requirements for designating your proxy:
- You must be at least 18 years old
- You need to create a legal document granting durable power of attorney for health care decisions
- The document must be notarized
- The document must be signed by two witnesses
However, while it may be easy to designate a proxy legally, that doesn’t mean it is easy to choose someone. Consider the following factors when choosing a proxy.
Whether the Person Will Respect Your Wishes
Just because someone cares about you, that doesn’t mean they will respect your health wishes. For example, if you do not wish to receive extraordinary life-saving care if you are incapacitated, some loved ones may not be willing to respect that. Their desire for you to be alive may outweigh your desire to die peacefully.
The Age of Your Proxy
While you may wish to have a proxy who is generally your age, that may not be a viable option if you are getting on in years. A proxy is no good to you if they die before you are incapacitated or are otherwise disabled due to age.
Where Your Proxy Lives
It is also best to choose a proxy who lives close to you. While your child, for example, might be an excellent proxy for other reasons, they may not be so great if they live across the country. Typically, it is best if your proxy can speak to doctors in person and visually confirm that you are getting the desired care.
Create Clear Instructions to Help Your Proxy
As is true with other types of estate planning, while you should discuss your desires with your proxy, you should also put clear instructions in writing. This will help your proxy follow your wishes, and it doesn’t rely on them having a good memory. It also makes it easier for someone to take legal action to enforce your wishes if your proxy ignores them.
Contact Merlino & Gonzalez in New Jersey to Consult With an Estate Planning Lawyer
If you want to ensure that your medical wishes are respected even when you are incapacitated, you can assign a health care proxy to make decisions in your stead. Choosing the right proxy doesn’t have to be difficult when you have a lawyer from Merlino & Gonzalez assisting you with the process.
Contact our law firm today to discuss your plans with an experienced attorney who can help you choose the right proxy for your needs and create the requisite documents.