If you have an end-stage or terminal illness or suffer a permanent incapacitating injury, difficult decisions are going to have to be made regarding the kind of care you will receive. For many people, hospice is the right solution under these circumstances. If you believe hospice is the best choice for you and your family, it is important that you work with an experienced attorney to make your preferences known and to get your affairs in order.
The Potter Law Firm provides help to patients and their families in making the decision to choose hospice. Our legal team offers compassionate and knowledgeable advice at a difficult time in your life as you take steps to ensure you can get hospice care and as you plan for what your future legacy will be.
Give us a call if you’re in North Carolina at (704) 944-3245 or (606)-324-5516 if you’re in Kentucky to talk with a hospice planning lawyer about the personalized advice we can offer to you and to get answers to questions you have about hospice planning including:
- What can I do to make sure my wishes for hospice care are respected?
- What does an attorney to do help a patient who has chosen hospice?
- How can a hospice planning lawyer help patients and their families?
How Can You Make Sure Your Choice of Hospice Care is Respected?
When you make the choice for hospice care, you are choosing a peaceful transition where you are kept comfortable at the end of your life and where no extraordinary measures are used to prolong your life. You need to make these preferences clear so doctors do not try to use extraordinary means to save you and so family members do not overrule your wishes.
The Potter Law Firm can help you to create advanced directives for healthcare so you can make your preference for hospice care known.
- You can create a Do Not Resuscitate order providing clear instructions that you do not want attempts to be made to restart your breathing or restart your heart once it stops beating.
- You can use a Living Will to provide detailed instructions on what kinds of care you want and wish to decline.
- Finally, you can name a healthcare proxy who you trust to respect your wishes and who care providers will turn to if questions arise about what kinds of medical care you should be receiving.
You must make certain all of your advanced directives for healthcare are legally enforceable and are available to your care providers. Our legal team can assist you in creating the documents you need to take control over your medical future so you can ensure your plans for hospice care are respected.
What Does an Attorney do To Help a Patient Who Chooses Hospice?
Creating advanced directives for healthcare is just one of many important things that a hospice planning attorney can do for patients who have chosen to eschew aggressive treatments for a terminal or end-stage illness. In addition to expressing your preferences for care in a legally binding document, you should also be taking other steps to prepare for the end of your life and the legacy that you leave behind. The Potter Law Firm can help. Our legal team can assist you with:
- Making appropriate plans for hospice care to be paid for. The Veterans’ Administration, Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers all provide hospice benefits to covered patients who require this type of care at the end of their life.
- Making plans for asset management while you remain alive but incapacitated. If you are sick or hurt and spend several weeks or months in hospice, someone has to manage your financial affairs during this time if you can’t. You can use powers of attorney and living trusts to dictate who should be in charge of taking care or your property and managing your investments on your behalf.
- Making a legacy plan. This could include gifts to charity, inter vivos gifts to loved ones, and the use of wills and trusts to determine who inherits your property after you are gone.
These are just some of the steps an experienced attorney can take to help you get ready for hospice care and to help ensure you get the care you want and need at the end of your life.
How can a Hospice Planning Lawyer Help Patients and their Families?
The Potter Law Firm provides compassionate legal assistance to families and helps with the logistics of planning when a family member must go into hospice care. Our legal team aims to make tackling the legal issues easy and stress-free so families can focus on time together at the end of a life. Give us a call at (704) 944-3245, (606)-324-5516 or (859) 372-6655 to find out how a hospice planning lawyer can help. You can also contact us online to speak with an experienced attorney and find out more.
