Do You Have An Advance Directive?

April 16, 2014

As a husband and father of four children, it is important to me to make sure my family is taken care of in the event of an emergency.  I have done a few things such as create an emergency fund, draft a will, and purchase life insurance, but there are a number of things I still have left to do.  One of the more important items I still have left on my to-do list is an advance health care directive.

It seems I am not alone.  According to a study done by Dan K. Morhaim, MD and Keshia M. Pollack, PhD, MPH “more than 60% of individuals aged 18 years and older want their end-of-life wishes to be respected; however, only about a third of them had completed advance directives.”  I actually began to complete an advance directive online, but as soon as the program began asking me tough questions, I had to stop.  There’s just something about end-of-life questions that are not fun to think about, and without having my wife there to discuss some of the issues, I really felt like I could go no further.  The problem with waiting is that it doesn’t make preparing an advance directive any easier.

Today is National Healthcare Decisions Day, a day meant “to inspire, educate & empower the public & providers about the importance of advance care planning.” To commemorate the day, MyDirectives.com offers these 5 ways to celebrate National Healthcare Decisions Day.  I think it’s a great start, but dedicating just one day to this subject doesn’t seem to do it justice.  I mean after all, I’ve already attempted to write my advance directive, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I needed to do a lot more to prepare for it.  Instead of calling it National Healthcare Decisions Day, I think they should call it National Healthcare Decisions Week.

If you are interested in drafting an advance directive, you will want to educate yourself on what that entails.  When I first began to prepare my advance directive, I thought it was going to be simple, but as I got further into it, I realized I was gravely mistaken.  The National Institute on Aging offers a thorough overview of advance care planning, including how to get started, how to make it official, and what to do after you finish.

Most states have their own advance directive forms, but you can create an electronic copy online for free at MyDirectives.com.  If and when you complete your documents, you’ll want to be sure to let certain people know, including your healthcare power of attorney, your doctor, your spouse, and other family members.  Also, you may want to keep information about your advance directive in your wallet in case you are ever hospitalized away from home.

Your advance directive should be part of your overall basic estate plan, which should include a will and a financial durable power of attorney as well.  Check with your employer to see if they offer any type of legal benefits that you can use to help draft these important documents.  If you have an EAP, they may also offer legal assistance with these documents.

We hope our loved ones are never faced with having to make end-of-life decisions on our behalf, but if we provide them with an advance care directive, at least they will know what our wishes are, and that should offer at least some peace of mind. If you don’t have one, get it done as soon as possible. After all, you never know when your family might need it.