What measures would you like carried out if health issues arise and you can't speak for yourself?

A very important conversation to have with your loved ones is what you would like for care should a health crisis arise. While it most likely will not be your favorite conversation, it is important that you don't put the conversation off until the need for it is created by an immediate situation, according to the Cleveland Clinic in “How to Get Your Living Will and Healthcare Power of Attorney in Order,”

Three tasks you need to tackle:

Have your estate planning attorney help you complete advance directives. Remember that each state has its own laws, so work with a local attorney who can create the correct documents. You'll want a Health Care Power of Attorney to name a person to make medical decisions when you can't speak for yourself. If you recover enough to able to become competent, then their responsibility is completed. Without a Health Care Power of Attorney, the state's laws will determine who makes your medical decisions.

You also need to have a living will. This will spell out the kind of care you want if you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious. The focus of this document is usually keeping you comfortable versus using artificial means to keep you alive. This is also the document to use to express your wishes regarding organ donation.

Talk to your family and loved ones. Critical care doctors often report that when they ask the patient's family members what the patient's wishes are, few families know. What if you woke up from a car accident, and discovered that you were breathing through a ventilator and could neither speak or move? These are uncomfortable conversations, but in their absence, patients and families are left in worse situations.

You should also talk to your doctors and healthcare providers about your wishes.  It is important for them to have a copy of your advance directives to keep in your medical records. They'll be scanned and placed in your file. Let them know about your wishes your values and about end-of-life care. Your goals may change, so you may need to have more than one conversation. You may want to speak with your family members first, then document your wishes with your estate planning attorney.

Reference: Cleveland Clinic (Oct. 11, 2018) “How to Get Your Living Will and Healthcare Power of Attorney in Order”