A gift for your loved ones

When people think of gifts to their family or loved ones, legal documents are not usually on the top of the list. But, putting certain legal documents in place can give your loved ones a tremendous gift.

One key part of an estate plan is a power of attorney for health care. In this document, you designate who is authorized to make health care decisions for you if you are not able to do so yourself.

If you do not have one of these in place in the District of Columbia, the DC Code (§ 21–2210) lists out the order of priority of who is authorized to make health care decisions for you. The person you want to make decisions for you may not be on the top of that list. Further, if you have adult children and no spouse, not designating a health care agent may be setting the stage for a lot of conflict among your children on how to go about your health care decisions.

Not only can you pick who should represent you with a health care power of attorney, but you can also include your wishes about your care. When you tell your loved ones through a directive in a power of attorney document what care you would wish for, you create a road map for them when having to make some challenging decisions.

While you and your loved ones may never need to rely on your power of attorney for health care, putting one in place gives them the gift of knowing your wishes and giving them guidance at a stressful time.

Ozdeger Law is here to help you get your planning documents put into place. Book a consultation to get started and give your loved ones this gift.