How you deal with legal matters for your senior loved one depends on his or her cognitive decline. If possible, get legal matters settled while the senior is still capable of making decisions. They need to make a will and decide who they want to have power of attorney for legal matters and power of attorney for personal care.
Giving someone power of attorney means that they have the legal responsibility to make decisions and sign papers on behalf of their client. The person who has power of attorney is a family member in many cases but can be another person.
If the senior can make a living will - called an advance directive - that will detail what they want to happen to them when and if they are no longer capable of making decisions. For instance, they may decide which nursing home they are to go into when that time comes. They can also decide where they want to be buried or cremated and by whom.
A power of attorney has a specified end date. A durable power of attorney is what you need to remain in effect after the senior becomes incapacitated. A medical power of attorney is the one to get for making health and medical decisions. If there is not one made beforehand, the staff and doctors at the hospital will make the decisions. If the senior cannot communicate, then what happens may not be what he or she wants.
A power of attorney must be drawn up while the person is still able to make rational decisions. The person named only makes the decisions after the senior has become incapacitated, not on signing the document. He must agree to be named in the document and may withdraw from the responsibility at any time.
The decision about whether or not a person is mentally incapacitated is taken after a medical examination and must be documented in the senior’s medical records. A specific examination prescribed by law must be used.
A living will is used specifically for a terminal illness. It will specify what treatment is desired and what is not desired. Since the senior may only contract a terminal illness after becoming incapacitated by age or other illness, it is wise to have both a living will and a durable power of attorney drawn up beforehand.
A CPR directive should also be drawn up, with copies attached to their medical record and the refrigerator or medicine cabinet. This is because emergency medical personnel, who may need to resuscitate the person in their home, are trained to look there for directions. The person may not want to be resuscitated after a heart attack, but if there is no directive to say so, then personnel must try to resuscitate.
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