Protecting Yourself, Your Business, and Your Loved Ones: Power of Attorney

It is just an average day, nothing seems out of place, until…the phone rings. It is the phone call that you never want to receive but dread receiving every day. Your spouse, child, or loved one is in the hospital and is unconscious. Arriving at the hospital you begin to feel the adrenaline running through your body. Then the doctor asks whether you have a power of attorney for health care decisions for your loved one. You answer “No” and now the doctor will not discuss with you what is happening.

Most individuals do not think of obtaining a power of attorney until they are married, until they have children, until a medical condition exists, or until it is too late. At these points in someone’s life, there is a belief that this document is necessary. Unfortunately, the inability to make your own decisions can happen at any time. Without a power of attorney, no one – not your spouse, parent, or adult child – has an automatic right to your medical records or can make medical or financial decisions. Your business partner has no automatic right to make business decisions on your behalf. When your child reaches the age of majority (which is 18 in Missouri), you can no longer automatically obtain their medical records or make decisions for them about their healthcare or financial needs.

If you do not have a power of attorney, anyone, including a parent, who wants to make healthcare or financial decisions on your behalf must file for a guardianship (for all care and placement decisions) and/or conservatorship (to manage assets) with the probate court. Continue reading »

Knowing What the Patient Wants: Healthcare Directive, Living Will, and Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)

The issue of exhaustive yet routine and expensive medical treatment versus quality of life for patients at end-of-life has been a hot topic in the media recently. The St. Louis Post Dispatch ran a series of articles including “Woman’s 6-month decline highlights end-of-life care quandary.” The June addition for Time Magazine featured “The Long Goodbye.”

Both articles focus on family members deciding how much care is appropriate and what happens when medical care results in a quality of life that the recipient of the care may not have wanted.

What is apparent from these articles is that end of life issues are difficult to discuss with family members. As a result, individuals often lack the motivation to consult with counsel to make sure that their wishes regarding their medical care – particularly at end-of-life – are expressed in writing.

An individual may end up receiving long, drawn out treatment and a quality of life they did not desire.

Healthcare Directives, Living Wills, and Do Not Resuscitate (DNR)

In both of the examples, the families were aware of the wishes of the family member to some extent, and had even taken some measures to make appropriate decisions regarding their care. Continue reading »

Illinois Changes Its Power of Attorney Laws

The revised Illinois Power of Attorney Act, 755 ILCS 45/2-1 et seq. provides greater protection to principals. These revisions are designed to minimize abuses of the elderly, incapacitated and disabled persons by their agents serving under powers of attorney. House Bill 6477, the new state bill containing the changes, was passed by both houses and signed into law by Governor Quinn on July 26, 2010. The effective date for the changes is July 1, 2011. All powers of attorney which were validly executed prior to this date will continue to remain effective.

A few highlights of the changes to this Act are: Continue reading »