It’s important for everyone to have an estate plan in place no matter how healthy or young that they are. Cancer and other illnesses don’t discriminate after all. You can fall ill with a medical condition at any point in your life. If you’ve been diagnosed with cancer or terminal illness, then it’s even more important that you get certain health-related legal documents in place sooner than later just in case.
Advance care planning involves a lot of research, self-reflection and you talking with both your doctors and your family members. The ultimate goal in doing this is for you to find out more about your condition, treatment options and prognosis.
You’ll want to discuss all of this with your physician to make sure that you understand the ins and outs of what you’ve learned. If you don’t, then your doctor can explain. The ultimate goal is for you to make an informed decision about the type of care that you’d want to receive if your condition made a turn for the worse. You’ll then want to have a frank discussion with your loved ones about your wishes and document them in a health care directive.
Having a discussion with your loved ones is particularly important, especially if you’re looking to appoint someone to serve as your health care power of attorney. The person that you select to be your proxy will be consulted by doctors to find out more about the life-saving measures that you wish for them to take if you become incapacitated and unable to voice those preferences yourself.
It may be helpful for you to draft a power of attorney giving a loved one control over your financial affairs if something were to happen to you while you’re pursuing treatment as well.
Making a decision to engage in estate planning isn’t a sign that you’re weak or old. It’s the responsible thing for you to do to ensure that your final wishes are upheld. It also protects your family from having to bear the weight of making hard decisions on your behalf at some of the more stressful times. An attorney in Bridgewater can let you know what New Jersey legal documents are important for you to draft given your particular medical condition and prognosis.
