Do I Need a Medical Power of Attorney?

It is said that change is the only constant thing in life. And while this saying has fallen into the realm of overuse, it remains true today.

So how does this affect your estate planning? When planning, it will do you well to account for all eventualities that may occur. One of the ways to do that is via power of attorney.

Here is a checklist for estate planning you can use to get started. This article covers one aspect of the checklist—the medical power of attorney and how you can use it to protect yourself.

What Is a Power of Attorney?

Hold on, what is a power of attorney? To some, it might sound like something a fairy godmother does to magically transform you into a lawyer. Pumpkins and all. But hold your horses. Even though that might be great to see, a power of attorney is a document that confers specific powers on someone, and we’re not talking about superpowers.

A power of attorney (POA) gives one person (called the attorney-in-fact or agent) the authority to make decisions on behalf of another (called the principal). These powers come into play when the principal is incapacitated and can no longer make those decisions themselves. A POA can be of utmost importance to a real estate investor for the following reasons:

• They ensure that even when they are incapacitated or absent, they can participate in important decisions that affect them.
• They can help make sure their investments don’t wither away from neglect.

There are several types of POAs. For this post, we will concern ourselves with two of them; the medical POA and the durable POA. Each serves a slightly different purpose, as we will see.

Durable Power of Attorney

A durable POA is one that confers the decision-making power on the agent after the principal gets incapacitated. The POA grants decision-making powers for financial, legal, and property matters. It is called a durable power of attorney because it needs to be explicitly revoked once the principal is available to make decisions once again.

The durable POA does not give the attorney-in-fact authority to make decisions regarding health matters of the principal, except for paying health bills. A medical POA is created to give someone authority to make health-related decisions on your behalf.

Medical Powers of Attorney

A medical power of attorney gives the agent authority to make health-related decisions on behalf of the principal. The medical POA springs into action only after the principal’s doctor says they are unable to make critical decisions themselves. The medical POA is sometimes called an advance directive, a health POA, or an advance healthcare directive.

The requirements for POAs vary from state to state, so if you move, you might want to check with an attorney to verify that your medical POA is still valid in your new home.

How Does A Medical POA Work?

You might be skeptical about ever needing a medical POA. After all, what could ever stop you from talking with your doctors to make your decisions known? Well, a medical POA usually kicks in when the principal:

• Falls into a coma
• Is unable to speak or communicate properly due to severe illness or dementia
• Has mental health issues that prevent them from being of sound mind

Sadly, these situations happen often enough that you should be prepared. Better to have it and not need it than otherwise. If you eventually need it, then the POA works to make your decisions known through your agent.

How To Select An Agent/Attorney-In-Fact

Your life is literally in your agent’s hands in a medical POA. This means that you should try as much as possible to appoint an agent that is trustworthy, reliable, mentally capable, isn’t your healthcare provider (most states have this requirement), has discussed your wishes with you, and understands what you want to be done is specific scenarios.

Here are some of the decisions your agent has authority over:

• What tests to run
• Which facilities/doctors to work with
• When and if to have surgery
• What drug treatments to apply
• Whether to disconnect life support if you’re in a coma

The gravity of these decisions suggests you want to select the best possible person to be your agent.

As Scott discusses in the video above, the healthcare power of attorney and durable power of attorney let people help you when you become incapacitated. All the operational pieces can be done in your home to allow others to make health decisions for you when you aren't able to do so on your own behalf.

Should You Get One?

With all the information we’ve put at your disposal, the decision is still yours. However, we think it is better for you to be prepared for any eventualities and to streamline the decision-making process as much as possible when you’re not available to make them yourself.

Interested in learning more? Check out our articles Do I Need a Durable Power of Attorney? and Using a Power of Attorney With a Land Trust.