Preparing a Power of Attorney for Personal Care is a critical part of your estate plan. It offers the ability to choose one or more family members or others who will make personal care decisions for you when you do not have the capacity to do so.
A Power of Attorney for Personal Care includes a number of areas
of personal care decision-making, not just end-of-life decisions,
such as where you will reside – in your own home or in an
institutional setting, your diet and nutrition, who should be your
hired caregivers if you should need them, your clothing and
personal hygiene, as well as health and medical decisions. In
short, all sorts of issues that do not relate to your financial
well-being which are covered by your Power
of Attorney for Property, but instead, that relate to
your personal well-being.
Who should make these decisions is a challenging question. In
choosing one or more attorneys, the qualities and attributes for
this role are very different than what are required for financial
decision-making, which your attorney for property is responsible
for under your financial power of attorney.
What is common to both roles is trust, and that you trust that the
person you choose to act as your attorney will act in your best
interests.
- An understanding of your desires and values is
fundamental, as well as respect for them when it comes to
sensitive and often emotionally-charged matters, such as remaining
in your home as long as reasonably possible, if that is your
wish
- Your attorney should have empathy and a high level of
emotional intelligence. In certain situations, your
attorney for personal care will also need to be a strong advocate
for you, and have the strength and perseverance to see matters
through in order to carry out your wishes, including in the face of
obstacles.
- It is also important that your attorney has a caring attitude. You need to know you can depend on them and that they will stand by you – whether it is making sure your medications are in good supply and navigating the complexities of doctor's appointments and the health care system, or that your living arrangements are comfortable and safe.
The question arises of how many attorneys can you have
– is it possible to have more than one? Yes, you
can have multiple attorneys, but if you do it is important to
consider how decisions will be made. For example, if you have three
children, you might wish to include all of them so they each have
equal information and equal say and involvement, but to ease
decision-making if they do not all agree, you may wish to include a
majority decision-making clause so that two of three can decide by
a majority.
What if you appoint more than one attorney, but all of them are
not available in an emergency that requires an immediate decision?
Your Power of Attorney for Personal Care can provide that in an
emergency, one attorney can make decisions.
It is important to consider how your attorneys get along, and
whether they will be able to act as a team. It can be a delicate
balancing act to ensure the people you believe should perform the
role are appointed, but also that the persons who you select can
effectively make decisions together.
In some cases, an alternative is to have fewer decision-makers, or
even just one, but clearly set out who should be consulted in
making certain important decisions.
Choosing young adult children also requires careful consideration
of whether they have the emotional maturity to make what could be a
be very difficult decision, and whether it would be unfair and even
harmful to place such a burden on them. The idea of adult children
in their early twenties acting with a more senior family member can
be a helpful approach to ensure critical decisions are not made
without the children's involvement.
At the end of the day, many people have a "gut" reaction
with regard to who to choose as their attorneys for personal care.
They need to consider who has the time and energy to carry out a
role that can be very time-consuming and onerous. Geographic
proximity is also important in many cases to effectively carry out
the role.
Personal care issues can be thorny and can lead to family disputes
as to the type, level and cost of care which we would all like to
avoid. Sometimes, having a neutral attorney who is not a close
family member can help.
No doubt, who to choose for what at the extreme can involve
life-and-death decisions requires careful thought. Putting yourself
in the most extreme situation of an end-of-life decision, such as
whether to use heroic measures or not, and who should make this
choice can help to crystallize your thinking in choosing your
attorneys for personal care.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.