You should have an incapacity plan. This is very important. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that one in four U.S. adults has some type of disabling condition. 
These conditions can develop at any point in your life. As many as 13.9% of them affect cognition, which means they can leave you mentally impaired. This could mean you’re unable to make your own decisions or manage your own affairs.
If you develop a serious physical mental condition, you may not be able to express your autonomy or make your preferences known for how you are cared for and how your assets are managed. If you want the maximum control possible in this situation, you must have already created an incapacity plan.
There are different tools you can use to make your incapacity plan, but here are three that you should seriously consider including.
1. An advance health care directive
In California advance health care directives (ACHDs) allow you to give directions about medical procedures in advance. Since you can’t consent when you are incapacitated, this important document allows you to give or withhold consent to common medical procedures in advance of the time that you might need them.
With an AHCD, you keep life-and-death decisions in your own hands, even in situations where you cannot express your preferences. You can specify before the time that you can’t speak whether you want a feeding tube ventilator, CPR, or other extraordinary measures to keep you alive or prolong your life.
Since your values, morals, and personal preference regarding quantity vs. quantity of life are going to dictate the decisions that you make on these medical issues, it’s really important you make them. Creating an incapacity plan could be your only chance to do that, since you often can’t make those decisions at the moment they are needed.
If you have an AHCD, you’ll also spare your loved ones from having to make some of the hardest choices. This could lead to conflict or leave them with guilt if there are questions or disagreements about what your preferences would have been or whether their decision was the right one.
2. A power of attorney
It’s also important to create a financial power of attorney when you are planning for incapacity. A power of attorney allows you to name an agent who you give authority to. Your agent can act on your behalf.
You can make a general power of attorney giving someone the ability to manage your assets and financial affairs. If you do this before you become incapacitated, they’ll have the tools that they need to jump into action. You do want to be sure you make your power of attorney durable, though, as otherwise, the grant of authority would end at the time of incapacity.
3. A HIPAA Authorization
HIPAA is a federal law called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It established some very important privacy protections, including protections that limit a medical care provider’s ability to disclose your medical information to others.
You don’t want delays or problems with your loved ones getting the information they need to make medical decisions when you can’t. A HIPAA authorization can streamline this process so they have the details right when necessary.
These are three tools of many potential options that should potentially be a part of your incapacity plan. You may want to prepare in other ways for becoming unable to manage your own health and financial life. For example, if you have a pet you may want to make provisions to ensure they are provided for. You could also use a living trust as a method of incapacity planning, remaining the trustee in charge of trust assets until you become incapacitated and your backup trustee takes over.
You are welcom to contact us to find out what your options are for making an incapacity plan and to ensure that you are putting a comprehensive and enforceable plan in place. The right tools can make all the difference in protecting yourself, your loved ones, and your legacy, so it’s worth getting legal help to make sure you do this process right. Give us a call today at (916) 437-3500 to learn more.
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