Can I Trust That Life or Death Decision?

For years, I have been helping people complete durable powers of attorney for healthcare, living wills, and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders.  Collectively, these documents are called "advance directives."  They give directions about the care desired in advance of the need for that care.  Advance directives allow you to select whether or not you want your healthcare providers to stop giving you "life-sustaining treatment" when you are in a "permanently unconscious state" or a "terminal condition."  Additionally, a living will and a DNR order allows you to tell healthcare providers and emergency medical service providers that you do not want to have CPR given to you in those cases when your heart has stopped beating (cardiac arrest).
 
Inevitably these questions come up during my discussions with people about their advanced directives: What if my health care providers are making a mistake?  How can someone stop a mistake from being made?  The answer is that there are checks and balances built into the laws that control how your advance directives operate. Let me explain.

  

From Our Blog: New Rules and Bad Decisions Make Medicaid Planning a Necessity

If you or a loved one are elderly and might need long term care in the near future, 2015 was a year to forget.  The Ohio Supreme Court decided two cases that set back long term care planning for Ohio's middle class elderly population and presented new obstacles to protecting one's retirement and/or home.  



Volume 6, Issue 2

  
  
News

Attorney David Banas is hosting a new Senior Lecture Series designed to help older adults prepare for their years ahead.  Sessions include:

Thursday 4/28
Unraveling the Myths of Medicaid for the Elderly

Thursday 5/19
Planning for Long Term Care: Strategies to Employ, Pitfalls to Avoid

Thursday 6/9
Protecting Your Home and Retirement from the Medicaid Spend-down

Each session will be held from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. at the Mentor Senior Center, 8484 Munson Road. We look forward to seeing you.

RSVP: 216-861-0360 or
info@Hickman-Lowder.com

  
Upcoming Events

Trustee School
Saturday 4/2, 10:00 am - 12:15 pm
6000 Venture Drive, Suite B, Dublin

Wednesday 4/13, 6:00 pm - 8:15 pm
AECOM Building Conference Center
1300 E. 9th Street, Cleveland

Trustee School will cover the nuts
and bolts of trust administration,
including:

  - Trustee responsibilities
  - Government benefits basics

  - Taxation and reporting requirements

  - Using care managers to ensure      

     quality of life

 

RSVP: 216-861-0360 or
info@Hickman-Lowder.com

 
Turning Your Obstacles into Opportunities