Executor: the person who will manage the estate.Check local laws.Ī will - which is different from a living will - is a document identifying whom a person has chosen as: Some states may require a particular form for a living will in others, it may be drafted by the person's attorney.
This document generally comes into play once a doctor decides that a person is incapacitated and unable to communicate his or her desires regarding life-sustaining treatment. In a living will, the person may state, among other things, his or her wishes regarding artificial life support. Once legal documents are filled out, the individual living with dementia, the caregiver or a trusted family member, the attorney and health care professionals should all have copies.Ī living will is also a type of advance directive that expresses how a physically or mentally incapacitated person wishes to be treated in certain medical situations.
Help avoid disagreements and distress by having open and candid conversations early on so everyone is aware of the end-of-life plans in place. When the time comes, these decisions can be difficult for families to make. Doctors and other health care providers.įor a person in the late stage of dementia, the health care agent also may make end-of-life decisions, such as providing nutrition through a feeding tube or giving do-not-resuscitate (DNR) instructions to health care providers.
This type of legal document is also called an "advance directive."These decisions include choosing: Make sure you understand your state's laws.Ī power of attorney for health care allows a person with dementia to name a health care agent to make health care decisions when he or she is no longer able. The agent is responsible for acting according to the principal's wishes and in the person's best interest.Ĭouples who are not in legally recognized relationships are especially vulnerable to limitations in making decisions for each other, and may be unable to obtain information about a partner's health status if legal documents are not completed. Once the principal is unable to make decisions, the agent is then authorized to manage the principal's income and assets. Power of attorney does not give the agent the authority to override the principal's decision-making until the person with dementia no longer has legal capacity. The person living with dementia maintains the right to make his or her own decisions as long as he or she has legal capacity. Power of attorney documents should be written so that they are “durable,” meaning they are valid even after the principal is incapacitated and can no longer make his or her own decisions. In addition, a successor agent or agents should be named in the event the original agent is unavailable or unwilling to serve. The agent should be chosen carefully it is recommended that this individual have a thorough conversation with the principal about what the responsibility entails. The power of attorney document allows a person with dementia (called the principal) to name another individual (called an attorney-in-fact or agent), usually a spouse, domestic partner, trusted family member or friend, to make financial and other decisions when the person with dementia is no longer able. While preparing these documents can be stressful, not having them can create problems such as uncertainty about who can make decisions or somebody making a decision that the person living with dementia would not want. As long as the person living with dementia has legal capacity (the ability to understand and appreciate the consequences of his or her actions) he or she should take part in legal planning.
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