Experienced Healthcare Directives Lawyers in Asheville, NC Helping Clients Make Their Wishes Known

We all know or know of someone who fell prey to an incurable or irreversible condition that rendered them unable to make their own healthcare decisions. When we hear these stories, or go through these experiences with loved ones, our first thoughts often go to how we would feel and what we would want if we ever found ourselves in a similar situation. Fortunately, there are ways to make your wishes known in legally binding documents that you can prepare with the help of an experienced healthcare directives lawyer. Whether you want life-prolonging measures in the case of incurable illness or irreversible physical or brain damage is an entirely personal decision, but whatever your wishes, you want your family and your health care providers to know what they are so that they can carry them out.

Contact Craig Associates, PC at 828-258-2888to get started on the legal document that will direct your healthcare should you be unable to make your wishes known in other ways.

What Documents Do I Need to Plan for My Future Healthcare?

A healthcare directive and living will is a kind of advance directive governing your medical care, should you be unable to convey your wishes at the time of your illness or injury. This document will outline your wishes for care, should you become seriously ill or injured. It will specify what measures you want or don’t want doctors to take to prolong your life, including artificial nutrition and hydration, ventilation, dialysis, and other procedures. Your healthcare directive and living will can also detail what kinds of pain management and comfort care you would like when at the end of your life.

In addition to a healthcare directive and living will, you will want to have a health care power of attorney in place, which will name the person whom you want to make medical decisions for you if you are unable. This is the person who will ensure that the preferences stated in your healthcare directive and living will are followed. There will be backups named in case your first choice declines or is unable to fulfill the medical power of attorney duties.

Do I Need a HIPAA Authorization?

A HIPAA Authorization is also recommended, so that the person(s) you designate will be able to talk with doctors and both receive and give medical information about you and your condition. HIPAA refers to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which governs the privacy of medical information, and which could keep doctors and medical professionals from releasing information about your condition to your loved ones if no HIPAA Authorization is in place.

Why do I Need a Healthcare Directive?

Though nobody likes to think or talk about it, all of us will come to a point in our lives at which we need some kind of medical care. If we have fallen ill with a disease or injury for which permanent incapacitation or death is a medical certainty, we will likely come to a point where we cannot speak for ourselves to let our wishes about medical care be known. When we do think about these issues, we assume that they will only happen when we are extremely elderly and have had a full life. Sometimes, however, tragedy strikes before we expect it, and it is important to be prepared. Whether you become incapacitated in old age or in the prime of your life, you want the peace of mind of knowing that someone you trust will be carrying out wishes that you have specifically stated in a health care directive.

Do I Need an Attorney to Write My Healthcare Directive?

While many online businesses advertise do-it-yourself legal documents, there is a reason that attorneys have years of education and testing behind them before they can be licensed. Laws are complicated and ever-changing, and without the skilled legal guidance of a licensed attorney, you could make mistakes that result in documents being deemed invalid, or that are not clear enough to be followed. Call the experienced healthcare directives attorneys at Craig Associates to get a personalized health care plan that will clearly direct your care and that will stand up in court if necessary. Contact us today at 828-258-2888 to get started.