The Importance Of A Living Will
Without proper planning, you might not be able to control your treatment if you suffer a debilitating medical condition. The people you love could be forced into making difficult decisions about your end-of-life care and other important matters.
At my Palm Harbor practice, The Law Office of Nancy J. Oset, I work closely with Florida residents to create reliable instructions that provide detailed guidance about their care and medical treatment in the event they become incapacitated by injury or illness. I’m lawyer Nancy Oset. I have more than 25 years of experience handling estate planning for people from all walks of life.
Living Wills Are A Critical Part Of Estate Planning
Often, people associate estate planning only with the allocation of property through wills and probate proceedings. However, failing to address key decisions concerning medical treatment can cause tremendous strain for your loved ones.
I can help you create a comprehensive estate plan that includes medical-related documents such as:
- Living wills – End-of-life situations are hard enough without conflicts regarding a patient’s wishes regarding extraordinary care. My firm creates living wills that explicitly state what types of procedures a person wants and does not want if they are close to death and cannot communicate. These documents must be signed in the presence of two witnesses, though they don’t have to be notarized. If you already have a living will and wish to review its terms or make changes, I can help you with that as well.
- Advance medical directives – Patients have the right to render important health care and anatomical donation decisions for themselves. I can outline your options relating to specific treatments, organ donation and do-not-resuscitate orders.
- Power of attorney documents – With a medical power of attorney form, you can designate a trusted surrogate to enforce your wishes if you have lost the ability to confer with doctors.
- HIPAA authorizations – Proper authorization is essential for ensuring that your designated decision-maker has access to your records under federal privacy law (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996).
I provide these documents as part of my flat-fee estate planning bundles.
You cannot predict the future, but by executing personalized documents, you can feel confident that your wishes will be upheld.
Discuss Your Wishes For End-Of-Life Care
I am happy to discuss your wishes and help you put the right documents into place. I offer free 30-minute consultations. Please call 727-387-3671 or contact me online to get started.