What My Dog Taught Me About Estate Planning

March 06, 2018

I’ll be honest: no one likes to do estate planning. It is not pleasant to think about death, so we put it off. Between my Uncle Bob passing away and my work in a trust department, I’ve seen so many cases of people putting it off for too long — not having a will or a plan and then passing away — along with the pain that it causes to those left behind.

Estate planning is more than just a will

That said, there is another part of estate planning, health care directives or sometimes called end of life planning, that could be arguably more important and could cause YOU pain if it’s not in place when you need it. That is where you let your family and medical professionals know what you do or do not want to be done to keep you alive should you end up needing life support.

The story of Nick

Right now we’re going through this with our beloved dog, Nick. He’s been a big part of the family and my “Helpline buddy” for years. He has spinal cord issues that have caused him to lose most of the use of his back legs. He hasn’t been able to do a full walk around the block in over a year and he struggles to get around the house. In the last couple of weeks he has declined.

When I got home from a work trip recently, he wasn’t able to stand and couldn’t go to the bathroom without laying or falling into his own mess. We took him to the vet and they told us he was too chronic for surgery but that we could treat him with medication to see if it would reduce the swelling in his vertebrae and give him back partial use of his legs. We know that the time is coming when he may have to be put down to end his suffering but we want to give the treatment a shot. But who are we doing it for?

If Nick could talk

I used to think, “Nick, I wish you could talk,” when he would be barking for no apparent reason, or whining at 1:30 am. Now, I realize that was nothing. These days what I really wish I could ask is, “Nick, do you want a few more days, weeks or months to see another spring? Do you want to spend a few more days doing fun things with us or is the pain and humiliation too much?” I’m literally agonizing over what is the right thing to do for my dog.

Letting your loved ones know what you would want

I can’t imagine what it would feel like if instead of Nick, it was one of my parents or my wife that I was asking this of — I keep thinking about someone I love being dependent on a feeding tube and ventilator to live, with me not knowing what they wanted. That would just be devastating.

We can make our wishes known

The difference is that we can talk, and more importantly, put those words on paper by completing a health care directive and a power of attorney for health care decisions. If you tell your loved ones what you do or don’t want done in writing, then you have taken a HUGE burden off of their shoulders. (it’s also a good idea to tell them verbally, just in case) It may be a tough conversation to have, but it’s sure easier than talking to your dog or having to make a gut wrenching decision on your own. Get it done today.