When you are making an estate plan, you can include advance directives. These are often used to address potential choices you may need to make in the future.
For example, you may be considering medical care you would need after an emergency, such as a heart attack or a stroke, or thinking about the potential effects of aging, especially when considering issues like dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. You can use advance directives to address these medical concerns ahead of time, putting them into the estate plan and giving your family direction and guidance.
A living will
The first way to do this is with a living will. It is generally just a list of instructions. Some people have certain types of care that they do not want to receive, like being kept on life support. You can use a living will to tell your family what care you want or what type of care you reject, so they do not have to make these decisions for you. Your medical team just refers to the documentation.
A power of attorney
Another way to address this is by using a power of attorney to select an agent. If you are incapacitated, as you may be after a medical emergency, then your agent gains the legal authority to make medical decisions for you. It is up to them to determine what type of care you would or would not want, depending on the specifics of your situation and the information they get from the doctors and nurses assigned to your case.
Both of these documents can be helpful, depending on your goals for your estate plan. Take the time to carefully look into all of your options while getting your plan in place.