Healthcare Power of Attorney (POA)
Useful when: Your Seenager is unable to make healthcare decisions on their own.
Purpose: This document gives authority to you as the care giver to have conversations on behalf of your seenager with the healthcare providers and make required healthcare decisions. This document can be as detailed as you and your seenager like. Putting the document together gives you the opportunity to make tough decisions early, when you are not in crisis. It is not necessary for you to be the one that has the Healthcare POA for the seenager, especially if you and your seenager do not see eye to eye on things such as when to change the treatment to Palliative care (Hospice). Although for most people the primary care giver ends up with the healthcare POA, there are many that choose someone that is not in the legal chain of command, such as the spouse, child or guardian.
Multiple people can have the POA, and that will work as long as those people get along and can stand behind each other’s decisions. In either case there should be a primary person that has the POA and others as backup or alternates.
Some sample tough situations that may be good to discuss with your seenager and spell out in the POA:
1. Seenager is unconscious, and the doctor wants to remove a limb to save their life.
2. Seenager is not breathing on their own, and doctor wants to know if they should be put on a ventilator.
3. Seenager has dementia and needs to have the dosage of medication adjusted as symptoms get worse.
If you are the primary care giver and/or have the primary POA, it is important that you and your seenager notify other family members about this document and your role as the person that has POA. If the document is revised (possibly because the POA themselves becomes incapacitated), be sure to provide new copies to all applicable parties: doctors, hospital or nursing facility.
The person that has the POA will need to have thick skin to bear with challenges from friends and family that may not agree with the decisions that you are making on the seenager’s behalf.
Financial Power of Attorney (POA)
Useful when: Your seenager is unable to make financial decisions on their own. Whether it is during a short acute crisis or a longer term chronic condition.
Purpose: This document gives you the authority and guide rails to make financial decisions and have financial discussions on your Seenager’s behalf. Note that it must be written to cover all situations for which it is intended to apply: bank account access and changes, safe deposit box access, real estate dealings, etc.
Advanced Directives
Useful when: When your seenager is ready to make future healthcare decisions. The advance directive provides you with many more options, including the naming of a health care agent.
Purpose: The advance directive is a great document for you and your Seenager to get on the same page about their wishes for health care treatment. They can name you a health care agent. With the advance directive, your Seenager can make decision about life¬sustaining procedures in the event of terminal condition, persistent vegetative state AND end¬stage condition. If life¬sustaining procedures are documented in advance directive, you do not need a Living Will.
