-Human life is certainly uncertain! God forbid; if you get injured in an accident, have surgery, or develop a condition that makes it difficult for you to make your own decisions, what will you do? Who will make decisions on your behalf? Do you have someone who can represent you?
Durable Power of Attorney is the best solution for such unfortunate situations. A Durable Power of Attorney NC gives you the freedom to appoint a person to make decisions (especially healthcare ones) on your behalf.
With a healthcare power of attorney in North Carolina, you choose a trusted person to make healthcare decisions for you when you’re unable to do so. This is a legal document that can significantly impact your present & future life.
Let’s dig deeper into understanding what Durable Power of Attorney is and how this document ensures your decision are made in the right way.
What Is a Durable Power of Attorney- Healthcare?
Durable Power of Attorney is a legal document enabling you to choose someone to make important healthcare decisions on your behalf. If you are unable to make your own healthcare decisions at some point in time, your chosen person makes them for you. Therefore, with this document, you will be able to outline your preferences and wishes completely in advance. While this is a completely customized document, standard options would still include:
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Decisions about consent for healthcare
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Withdrawing or withholding from treatment
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Specific treatments you wish to have or avoid, psychiatric care, hospitalization, and nursing home care options.
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Specific Matters Included in a Healthcare Power of Attorney
A vague statement allowing an agent to make decisions on your behalf may not suffice. It is imperative to include specific instances & preferences and create a complete detailed document covering every detail of what you want. Writing a healthcare power of attorney is similar to creating a will or North Carolina power of attorney. You may not be at ease dealing with such topics, but it is an essential instrument that will benefit you in the future.
An advance healthcare directive enables you to provide in-depth instructions for your physician & loved ones regarding your medical treatment preferences. These preferences typically include medical treatments like diagnostic testing, surgery, and resuscitation. Additionally, your document should include whether you would like to spend your last days in a nursing home, medical facility, or at home. The directives can also include any pain management requests.
The best thing about this power of attorney NC is, you can decide how much power you would want to vest into the agent. You can either permit them to make all your medical decisions. Or you can permit them to act only on the narrowed-down situations.
Few examples of some decisions your agent may need to make are:
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Medical treatment
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Health care
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Admitting you to a hospital or similar facility
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Discharging you from a hospital or similar facility
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Making end-of-life decisions
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Authorizing an autopsy or donation of the body for medical research
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Deciding what should happen to your body after death
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You can also direct & limit the powers that your agent may make for you. For example, some types of treatment might go against your religious faith and believes. You can prevent your agent from allowing such treatment by stating them in a power of attorney.
Is a Medical Power of Attorney revocable?
Yes, the principal can revoke the powers anytime if they get on their feet or are able to communicate their decisions about health care. The POA gets revoked under the following situations:
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Upon principal’s death
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When a subsequent wish gets executed
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If an intention to revoke POA is communicated
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After divorce, until then, the spouse remains the principal’s appointed agent
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If all the healthcare representatives cannot or are unwilling to act
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Conclusion
With the number of benefits and objectives, a POA can accomplish, for those with underlying medical conditions and yet others, creating a power of attorney NC is a must!