A Health Care Proxy allows you to designate an agent to make healthcare decisions for you in the event of incapacity or if you are otherwise unable to speak for yourself.
One of the greatest benefits of having a Health Care Proxy is that it can prevent a court proceeding known as Guardianship. The Guardianship process is both time-consuming and expensive. Worse, it puts a great deal of stress on family members and often results in family disputes that leave hard feelings for years to come. The end result of a Guardianship process is that the court chooses who will make healthcare decisions for the incapacitated person. Unfortunately, the person chosen by the court might not be someone you would have wanted to make these decisions on your behalf.
Many people wonder if they also need a Living Will. Massachusetts law does not recognize Living Wills. To compensate for this, the Law Office of Alexis B. Levitt gives clients the option to complete the Your Way workbook, which allows you to spell out to your family what types of treatments you do and do not want in various serious illness care situations.
It is extremely important that you make your physician and those who matter most to you aware that you have created a Health Care Proxy, and tell them where it can be found.
Contact us for experienced legal counsel in the design and implementation of your health care documents.