incapacity plan

Learn About 3 Tools to Include In Your Incapacity Plan

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Although it’s not pleasant to consider, the sad reality is that disability can happen to anyone. Let’s look at tools you want include in your incapacity plan. In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than one in four people in the United States have some kind of disabling condition.  incapacity plan

In some cases, a disability can develop and leave you unable to make decisions about your health or manage your financial and personal affairs. This can happen if you are not able to communicate because of your condition. It can also happen if it affects your mental capacity. The CDC reports that 13.9% of disabling conditions affect cognition so this is a very real possibility.

Making an incapacity plan can help you to be prepared for the possibility that you will become disabled in a way that prevents you from making medical choices or taking care of your money and property. There are three tools you should consider including in your incapacity plan so you are as prepared as possible.

1. A living will

A living will, also called an advance healthcare directive, should be included in every incapacity plan. It allows you to provide very specific instructions about specific medical procedures. For example, you can specify that you want to give or deny consent for procedures like CPR, the use of a ventilator, or the use of a feeding tube. You can also specify under what conditions you would want extraordinary medical interventions used to keep you alive.

If you do not make these decisions in advance, you force your loved ones to make life-and-death choices. There may be disagreements about what you would have preferred. Your loved ones might be left feeling guilty or conflicted about the choices that they made. You may also end up with the wrong choices being made since you would have weighed the quality and quantity of life differently.

Including a living will in your incapacity plan allows you to avoid these undesirable outcomes. You can take the time to think in advance about the circumstances where you’d like to be kept alive and you can make your wishes clear.

2. A durable power of attorney

Creating a power of attorney allows you to name someone who can act on your behalf and make decisions for you. You can name someone to manage your money and property. You can also make a healthcare power of attorney in case any choices need to be made that aren’t addressed in your living will.

You need to make your power of attorney durable so it remains in effect in the event of incapacity. You should also think carefully about the person who you want to give authority to. If you are incapacitated for a long time, this person may need to manage your money and property for months or even years. They need to be someone who you think is capable of doing that.

Creating a durable power of attorney means there won’t be disagreement over who is in charge of your affairs. The person you select will also have the authority to act right away rather than waiting for the court to appoint a guardian. This can ensure your assets are properly managed when you can’t take care of them.

3. A HIPPA authorization

Finally, you should consider creating a HIPAA authorization as part of your incapacity plan. HIPAA stands for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It established important privacy protections that benefit patients by ensuring their medical information is kept secret and secure.

However, if you want your family members to be given vital medical information right away in the event you have a serious incapacitating illness or injury, creating a HIPAA authorization can help to facilitate that. It allows you to name someone to whom your medical care providers can release information. This way, prompt and efficient decisions can be made about your medical care by those armed with the details they need.

These are just three tools that should be part of your plan. Other incapacity planning tools could be included as well. For example, some people benefit from creating a living trust to help prepare for incapacity. A living trust allows you to remain the primary trustee of assets that you put into the trust, but you can name a backup trustee who takes over in the event of your incapacity.

Since there are different ways to prepare for a tragedy that leaves you incapacitated, it’s helpful to get legal advice. An experienced estate planning attorney can offer the help you need in making a comprehensive incapacity plan. Give us a call today at 817-899-3286 to see how Brandon can help you prepare. 

Brandon McGee
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