Reduce stress by preparing for the unexpected.
We all face death at the end of our earthly sojourn. How you face that fact affects how you experience the end of life. According to the California Office of the Attorney General, 70 percent of Americans want to die at home, yet only 25 percent do so. Like saving for a rainy day, making arrangements to ensure your medical, financial and legal wishes are fulfilled during your final days -- before you are there -- makes good sense.
Make Decisions
Start end-of-life planning by crystallizing your values and beliefs about the subject and related medical issues. Consider possible scenarios, such as an accident that leaves you in a vegetative state or a gradual incapacitation from dementia. If diagnosed as terminal, consult your doctor about your prognosis and care options. Realize that, without direction from you, physicians and relatives will follow their own guidelines to make medical decisions for you. Get input from your attorney, accountant, family members and friends on end-of-life topics. Ask yourself questions about who to trust to carry out your wishes and explicitly define your wishes. Determine your financial situation and the disposition of your possessions. If you absolutely want to die at home, consider what arrangements must be made to do so, whether your family can handle it and whether you have the financial resources to accommodate your desire.
Prepare Legal Documents
Financial end-of-life planning includes preparing a will or trust documents to direct the disposition of your financial resources. Update these documents when changes warrant it, such as a divorce, remarriage or when additional children join the family. Name someone you trust as executor of your estate. A durable power of attorney document gives your chosen representative the right to act for you concerning financial matters if you become incapacitated. Without this document, a court will appoint a guardian or conservator who may not follow your wishes. Create advance directives to guide relatives and health care professionals by stating your wishes and appointing a specific person to carry them out. The Family Caregiver Alliance reports that you have a legal right to receive or refuse medical care regardless of your condition. Advance directives include a Living Will or Directive to Physicians, a Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Do Not Resuscitate order. Some states, such as California, combine these documents into an Advance Health Care Directives form.
Communicate Wishes
Clarifying your end-of-life wishes is unproductive unless others also know and agree to respect them. Hold conversations to discover who is best suited to manage your finances and how potential caregivers feel about life-prolonging measures. Discuss how much treatment you would want after a trauma that left no hope of recovery to a self-reliant state. Determine which family members agree with your choice and those who feel strongly enough to oppose it. Provide information about medical and/or long-term care insurance policies and the legal documents that support your end-of-life choices. If reluctance to discuss these issues is a problem, use triggers such as a movie or friend's funeral to start the conversations that are necessary, according to the American Medical Association.
Tags: your wishes, disposition your, end-of-life planning, family members, financial resources