Incapacity planning means preparing for when you can’t make decisions or take care of yourself, like having a plan for who will do your responsibilities and life chores if you’re sick or injured. It ensures your needs are met even when you can’t take care of yourself – which is why it is great to start incapacity planning Texas as soon as you reach your middle age!
The principle three things include:
- Choosing someone to make decisions for you
- Writing down your wishes for medical care
- Planning for financial management
Must-To-Do Things When Planning Incapacity Documents
It is always a good idea to take the help of a lawyer when deciding what and how to safeguard your interests when you are not conscious and mentally stable. They include these five aspects of documentation in your Incapacity Planning.
Durable Power of Attorney
The DPOA is a legal document that allows us to choose someone to manage our finances and personal matters.
Ideally, for this you want to choose someone who will genuinely honor your wishes behind your back.
Even then, you can be meticulous and explain your stance to third-party professionals like your lawyers and doctors. Similarly, you can customize this document to limit how far the power of attorney takes this individual.
This way, the individual vested with the power of attorney must answer to the law if they go astray.
Medical Power of Attorney
A similarly essential but commonly overlooked document is the Texas medical power of attorney. When given this power, your chosen caretaker can make medical decisions on your behalf.
Here, you designate a trusted person to make healthcare choices if you’re hospitalized or unconscious.
Other documents include Advance Directives, Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) orders, and Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST). We should sign multiple documents, including some directly with the doctor or hospital.
Living Will
This is a way to outline your medical treatment preferences without depending on anyone else.
In this document, you can specify what life-sustaining treatments you want or don’t want, such as ventilation or reviving surgeries.
A law forum dedicated to your well-being through Frisco wills and trusts can also help you draft a ‘revocable living trust’. This is a temporary financial and medical solution that you can later change completely without having to go through another lengthy process.
HIPAA Authorization
Information you want to keep from being shared with colleagues or media personnel is protected health information (PHI). You can keep this information secret using a HIPAA authorization certificate but still share it with designated individuals.
This includes selective family members and health professionals. Using this, you can draw a distinction between which family members learn about you and which don’t.
Last Words
While we have covered the basics of incapacity planning in this article, there are more things that you can do.
For instance, if you want to go one step ahead, consider going to an estate planning attorney in Texas who can help you identify and determine which family member gets to do what with your property once you are gone or even unavailable like being in a coma.
All of this can help you maintain dignity as well as a certain control over the estate you have worked hard on when you are no longer directly present. For more information click now!