Many people confuse a Health Care Power of Attorney and a Living Will. A Health Care Power of Attorney is a legal document that authorizes someone to make your healthcare decisions for you in the event you are unable to do so. These decisions often relate to life and death. A Living Will, on the other hand, is a legal document you create that states what your wishes are with regard to whether you want to be kept alive by heroic measures in a life and death situation.
Typically, Living Wills indicate whether or not you want to be kept alive with artificial respiration, intravenous or tube-type feeding, or other more extreme medical support. Unfortunately, most standard Health Care Powers of Attorney and Living Wills fail to deal with the everyday issues of your healthcare needs in the event of your incompetency.
We recommend you work with us at Butcher Elder Law to ensure that the proper instructions are included in your healthcare documents.