Advanced Healthcare Directives Lawyer in Bend

Helping Oregon Residents Plan for Healthcare Decisions Like Life-Sustaining Treatment, End-of-Life Care, and Other Critical Medical Decisions via Comprehensive Estate Planning

When most people think of estate plans, they consider wills and trusts, the documents that speak for the deceased after death and pass on their assets to beneficiaries and loved ones. However, there are many types of estate planning documents that can serve a person and their families during their lifetimes, either by distributing assets via trusts, ensuring that financial affairs are appropriately handled in times of incapacitation, or making an individual’s healthcare preferences known if they are unable to speak for themselves in the hospital setting.

Without specific advanced healthcare directives in place, family members may be left at a disadvantage in a healthcare facility when you are left incapacitated due to a serious illness or injury. Terminally ill patients would especially benefit from creating advance directives and naming health care representatives to act on their behalf and serve their best interests in matters like life support decisions, tube feeding, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and more. You must take these matters into serious consideration now and not later. We may think that we can prepare for the future when that day comes, but we never know when any serious illness or injury may rob us of our ability to speak for ourselves. When you are sick or dying, it may be too late to draft a new form that reflects your final wishes or other medical care decisions.

Our Oregon Law firm has extensive experience representing clients in the creation of advanced directives, such as living wills and durable power of attorney documents. We can draft, review, and revise your documents to ensure they serve your interests and simplify matters for your loved ones.

The Baxter Law legal team proudly serves clients in Jackson, Crook, Deschutes, and Jefferson counties. To learn more about our legal services and the benefits of advance directives, contact our law office to request your initial consultation today.

What Are the Different Types of Advance Directives Available in Central Oregon?

Oregon residents have two primary types of advance directives available when creating their estate plans.

If you need help making the right decision that reflects your wishes and makes those wishes known to your attending physicians and any blood relatives, please contact our law firm. We can help you decide what measures best fit your goals.

What Are Living Wills?

While many people understand what a last will is, far fewer understand the importance of living wills. This type of document is very different from a simple will. It expresses the preferences of the principal writing the document for matters such as life-sustaining treatment. For example, your living will may specify whether you want cardiopulmonary resuscitation procedures, tube feeding, organ donation, and artificial breathing performed both during life and after death.

What Are Healthcare Power of Attorney Documents?

Power of attorney documents that include an advanced directive designate a healthcare proxy to act on your behalf if you are ever unable to speak for yourself due to a progressive illness or serious injury. If you desire to select one individual to be your health care representative and speak for your best interests in medical decisions, as well as decisions relating to your finances, you may wish to create separate financial and healthcare power of attorney documents.

What Are POLST Forms?

In Oregon, some patients can also opt for a Physician’s Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form, known as the POLST. This form is designed for patients with advanced terminal illnesses or those who face imminent death in the near future. The POLST form can provide specific instructions for healthcare providers, emergency responders, and other medical professionals about using CPR and other intervention measures for life-sustaining care. These forms are generally for patients who are in the late stages of a terminal illness, and they should be reviewed frequently as the individual’s diagnosis or condition deteriorates.

When Do Advance Directives Go into Effect?

So long as you are physically and mentally able to do so, you can be directly involved in making informed decisions about your medical care. Even if you have a thorough advance healthcare directive document in place, your representative or proxy does not have the power to make decisions about your care unless and until your attending physician determines that you cannot communicate informed decisions on your own.

In some cases, a patient’s inability to speak for themselves and make informed health care decisions may be only temporary. They can resume making important medical decisions on their own behalf as soon as they are mentally and physically able to do so again.

For assistance completing your advanced directive that sets out your final wishes and any wishes related to medical decisions when you cannot make those choices on your own, please contact our Oregon law firm to schedule a case review today. In your new obligation case evaluation, we will review your goals and help you take the lead in determining matters such as end-of-life care, life-sustaining treatments, adoption of any minor children, guardianship, and other critical factors.

Who Should You Appoint as Your Health Care Representative?

When you select someone to act as your health care representative, you will usually select a family member or blood relative, or perhaps a close friend whom you trust implicitly.

The person you select should be informed of your wishes concerning your medical care so that they are not left surprised when they are thrust into the role of your healthcare proxy and do not understand the directives you have laid out.

You may also select an alternative healthcare representative to serve your best interests if the initial person you selected is unable or unwilling to serve in their role. It is worth noting that your health care provider or doctor cannot serve as your healthcare representative.

What Authorities Do Healthcare Proxies Have?

Among the many decisions that health care representatives can make are choosing your physician, planning for long-term care, providing consent to medication modifications, and more. The health care representative is legally obligated to follow your wishes as your advanced directive documents dictate.

There are certain medical decisions that health care representatives cannot make, such as sterilization, convulsive treatment, and others. Also, although the human enlisted to be your health care representative can admit you to a mental health treatment facility, another document called the declaration for mental health treatment may supersede these decisions.

Contact Us to Schedule a Consultation with Oregon Advance Healthcare Directives Attorneys Today

Including advance directives in your estate plan may have certain advantages and disadvantages. To ensure that your advanced directive meets the legal criteria necessary for it to go into effect, please contact our law office for assistance. Like all legal documents related to medical care or estate planning, advance directives are complex documents that often require the help of legal professionals to ensure they are correctly written and executed.

Our law firm has extensive legal knowledge in the practice areas related to advanced medical directives. We would be proud to pass that experience on to you if you decide to become one of our clients. To learn more about the many benefits of retaining our legal representation, please contact our law office to schedule your consultation with our team today.

You can reach us by submitting a form on our website or by calling us at (541) 546-1713.