Reasons For Keeping A Medical Power Of Attorney

Medical power of Attorney is also known as living will or advance health care directive which is only related to the decisions made for your medical care and health. You have to organize a medical directive according to your state's law authorizing that your partner should make the decisions on behalf of you in case of any illness or accident. Families of couples who are unmarried may raise their brows or may object on your decision to keep your partner as the medical power of Attorney. So you have to be very clear on that in the legal document, but then also there is no guarantee that the blood relations will not try to block your wish.

You should not keep the originals of your medical directive in the safe because when the legal documents are unavailable, wrong decisions might be taken on your treatment. Provide one copy of the HIPAA form, medical directives and other information related to your living will so that your agent can make right decisions. You must have the extra copies of your medical power of attorney as the doctors, hospitals or other persons who would like to know your decisions regarding the medical directives can go through it.

It is always wise to appoint an agent as your medical power of attorney, if you are in the later stage of your life. You agent can make decisions on behalf of you when you are not mentally strong to do so. You can select any individual you like as your agent or attorney-in-fact. Even though you have a living will, you should have a medical power of attorney as both are completely different from each other as legal documents. Living will shows the person's wish on the decision that should be made regarding the medical care, if there is a need of life support system whereas the medical directive is used to make important choices on medical care like using a life support system when the person is unable to make a decision.

This kind of power of attorney is not only used for older persons who are suffering from serious diseases, but also suited for young individuals who met with an accident or suffering from some serious health problems. The agent should perform the wishes mentioned in the document, even though the wishes made by you may contradict with your agent's wish. The agent should follow your instructions, even though they wish you to be alive disregarding your health condition. You should discuss your wishes with your agent so that you can assure that everything will go smoothly according to your wish when you are mentally incapable of executing those wishes. When you become mentally incapable, the agent will get the responsibility to act on behalf of you including the handling of all your money.

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