When you’re young, you might think you have plenty of time to create an estate plan in Massachusetts. That’s not the case, especially if you’re in a relationship. Anyone can fall victim to an accident or illness at any age. Your family needs a clear plan to follow should something happen to you. When you have an estate plan, you can provide guidance to your family about things, such as the division of your assets and instructions for your children. You should also include advance directives in your estate plan.
Creates a personal medical plan
You can’t always speak for yourself during a medical emergency. Including an advance directive in your estate planning can document the plans you have for your own medical treatment. Those plans can include instructions for physicians’ orders for life-sustaining treatment and DNRs or do-not-resuscitate orders. These instructions help prevent mistakes when you’re unable to discuss your treatment.
Designates powers of attorney
When you can’t speak for yourself, you need someone who can step in on your behalf. Designating a medical power of attorney can give you that peace of mind. A medical power of attorney can make medical decisions for you in an emergency.
Establishes end-of-life wishes
End-of-life decisions can be hard for loved ones to make. One way to make the process easier is to communicate your wishes to your loved ones ahead of time. Then, include your end-of-life wishes in your estate plan.
These instructions can become part of your advance directive. Adding your end-of-life instructions to your advance directive can help reduce family distress.
Advance directives can alleviate your family’s need to make painful decisions about your care during a crisis. Additionally, they will not have to contend with unnecessary guilt later on and wonder if they did the right things.
