Your estate plan may start as a way for you to pass your assets to your adult children, your grandchildren and any other beneficiaries that you select. But that is not all that it is. Your plan is also a chance for you to address potential medical needs in the future.
After all, you could become incapacitated, such as if you suffer from a stroke or experience the mental decline associated with dementia. Someone needs to make critical medical decisions, and your estate plan can help you do so. The two main ways to do this are with a living will or a power of attorney.
Leaving instructions
The exact option that you choose is up to you and depends on your goals. But if you would just like to leave instructions for your medical team, you can do this with a living will. One of the most common examples is when people know that they do not want to be kept on life support and they would rather that their family let them pass away when it is their time. This can be a difficult decision to make for family members, but a living will can leave these types of instructions so that they know what you want.
Choosing an agent
A power of attorney is much different, because you use it to select an agent and give them the legal power to make your medical decisions. They can make any decision that they want, and you have not left them explicit instructions. Instead, you just pick a person whom you trust to talk to your doctors, consider your condition and make the best possible choice for you if you are incapacitated and cannot do so on your own.
Both of these tactics can work, and it is important to know what legal steps to take to incorporate them into your estate plan.