Some legal forms
you could use. |
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Everyone should have some standard legal documents. They're easy
to create; you don't need a lawyer unless your situation is complicated.
You could start from these sample forms and modify them:
Problems with health-care directives / living wills:
- If you go to an Emergency Room, they are focused on doing whatever is needed
to preserve life and stabilize the patient. Unless the patient and/or the representative is
alert and assertive and there the whole time, probably with documents in hand, procedures
(tubes, respirator, resuscitation) probably will be done automatically.
- Once a device is installed, it is very hard to get it removed.
Your representative probably will have to appear before a hospital ethics board or
something to argue for removal.
It's a good idea to give copies of the proposed health-care documents to your
chosen representatives ahead of time, to see if they agree with your wishes
and will carry them out.
Your will almost certainly should be notarized; I don't think the health-care documents
need to be notarized. You could ask the notary-public about that, and about the
number of witnesses needed on the will (usually three).
The documents don't need to be filed or registered with any government agency.
Give copies to all of your executors and representatives.
Non-legal documents you should create:
- A document listing all of your bank accounts,
pensions, IRA accounts, insurance policies, and other assets.
Give copies to all of your executors.
- A document listing your medical info:
doctors, medical conditions, allergies, current medications, medical insurance policies, etc.
Give copies to all of your health care representatives.
- A document listing any of your online assets (web site, email account, Facebook account, etc)
that you wish to be deleted or maintained after your death. Give URLs,
user names and passwords, any other info needed.
Specify what should be done with your computers and backup disks.
Give copies to all of your executors.
Joke:
On New Year's Eve, Lynda and I were sitting in the den talking about what the future might hold for us.
Aging and the usefulness of living wills came up.
I told her "I never want to live in a vegetative or immobile state, dependent on some electronic device
and fluids from a bottle. If ever I reach that state I want you to pull the plug without hesitation."
She said that she understood, got up, unplugged the TV and threw out my bottle of beer.
(I love the "Rumpole of the Bailey" books, as in
"The First Rumpole Omnibus" by John Mortimer
(on Amazon
).
The books are better than the TV shows; you miss too many witticisms on the TV.)
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