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A Minnesota Estate Planning Attorney Explains Why You Must Get a Health Care Directive NOW!
You can’t do everything to protect yourself or your family from the global pandemic created by coronavirus / COVID 19. But, there are some steps you can take to offer some guidance and assistance to others.
Get a health care directive now!
As you may know, hospitals and care facilities are being overrun and are overcrowded. They are now having to ban anyone but the patient from entering. More senior care and living facilities are locking down to ban anyone but staff from entering.
This means if you or a loved one is hospitalized, you are unable to have anyone there to advocate on your behalf. You MUST sign a valid health care directive naming an agent as your advocate so they can do so from outside the hospital.
In case you think this is just an estate planning attorney trying to scare you, I want to let you know that I have two cases exactly like this right now. A client called because her father is in critical care at the hospital and needs to enter hospice care. Many hospice care facilities require a health care directive prior to admission. But, the client can’t enter the hospital to have her father sign any documents. Now what? We are scrambling for a solution.
Truthfully, the best solution is to sign a health care directive BEFORE it becomes necessary! Please do it.
Sign one now to give your agent a change to discuss your medical wishes for care with medical staff.
If you do NOT wish to have extraordinary measures take, execute a POLST order with your doctor before you need one. I will discuss the POLST in more detail another post.
Contact a Minnesota estate planning attorney TODAY to draft and sign a health care directive.