Who Should Speak for You?
Who should speak for you should a health calamity make you unable to speak for yourself?
Under Maryland law, your spouse steps up to make medical decisions for you; next in line are your children.
But is that what you want?
However logical it may seem, Maryland’s allocation of responsibility can create discord among families. Even more difficulties can arise in the event that you have no immediate family members. In this case, the responsibility falls on senior medical professionals attending to your case.
A healthcare power of attorney ensures you make those decisions.
A power of attorney is a paper that authorizes another person to make decisions on your behalf. When drafted properly, the power of attorney gives another person, known as an agent, the legal right to make decisions (as outlined) on behalf of the person authorizing the power, known as the principal.
Powers of attorney can be created to last a specific amount of time or from a set start date lasting indefinitely. They can be drafted for several different situations: to handle business matters, family matters, real estate transactions and medical situations.
A healthcare power of attorney is more powerful than a living will. A living will is applied only if you are terminally ill or in an irreversible coma. If you are temporarily unconscious and unable to communicate but are not in any sort of end-stage condition, a living will would likely be ineffective; what you’ll need in those situations is a healthcare power of attorney.
Your healthcare power of attorney can be as powerful as you want it to be, all the way to giving complete control over your decisions while incapacitated. It can also be as restrictive as you want it to be: outlining how any possible medical situation is to be handled, limiting the types of decisions your agent can make.
The healthcare power of attorney designates an agent to make medical decisions for you in the event that you are incapacitated and otherwise unable to make your own decisions. Choose your healthcare agent wisely, as your fate could literally rest in their hands one day.