Advance health care directives can help explain an individual’s medical preferences. The documents that they draft can guide medical professionals or family members who must make decisions about that person’s care.
If an adult becomes incapacitated, they may need someone to advocate for them in a medical setting, pay their bills and handle their affairs. Unfortunately, many people fail to establish advance health care directives before an emergency occurs. They may not even be aware of how vulnerable they actually are.
When is the right time to draft an advance directive?
Most adults benefit from advance directives
Parents can make medical decisions for minor children, but that authority ends when the child reaches adulthood. Particularly in cases where adults in their late teens or early twenties have not yet married, they may want to draft advance directives to address the possibility of a medical emergency.
Those who have specific medical preferences, possibly based on personal or religious beliefs, might find that outlining those preferences in writing is important. For some people, pressing changes in life are what motivate them to draft an advance directive. A recent divorce, a major diagnosis or the looming reality of retirement could all inspire people to plan for the possibility of future incapacitation.
Without documents in place, individuals are at risk of health care providers following hospital protocol or established best practices rather than deferring to their wishes. Their mortgages could end up in default, or their businesses could fall apart before they recover.
Any adult who has not yet clarified their medical wishes and empowered a trustworthy person to uphold those wishes might benefit from drafting an advance directive. Seeking personalized legal guidance is a great way to get started.
