Living Will in addition to Health Care POA?

[DocPit45]

What is the name of your state? South Carolina

Articles I have read suggest it is wise to have a living will and a health care POA. I don't see any circumstance in which a health care POA would not cover a situation which would be covered by a living will.

The South Carolina Health Care Power of Attorney form states: THIS DOCUMENT GIVES THE PERSON YOU NAME AS YOUR AGENT THE POWER TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS FOR YOU IF YOU CANNOT MAKE THE DECISION FOR YOURSELF. That covers a broad range of situations: unconscious, conscious but unable to communicate, able to communicate but not mentally competent, etc.

South Carolina also provides a Living Will form (Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death). Online information suggests that a living will takes effect only if the individual is incapacitated, unconscious, and there is no realistic hope of recovery (link removed). That is a much narrower set of circumstances and a subset of the broader set that would be covered by a health care POA.

So, again, I don't see any circumstance in which a health care POA would not cover a situation which would be covered by a living will. Can anyone explain to me why I might want to have a living will in addition to a health care POA?

 

[TrustUser]

in california, we have a health care directive that takes care of both things. however, in reading about south carolina, that may not be true. the living will is for
in the event they are
diagnosed with a terminal condition or are in a state of permanent
unconsciousness and in the further event that they are incapacitated or
otherwise unable to express their desires.

you might want to check if the health care POA allows for the health care attorney to make choices about someone in the above condition. when i read the article, i got the idea that it might not.

https://www.state.sc.us/dmh/804-97.htm

 

[DocPit45]

in california, we have a health care directive that takes care of both things. however, in reading about south carolina, that may not be true. the living will is for
in the event they are
diagnosed with a terminal condition or are in a state of permanent
unconsciousness and in the further event that they are incapacitated or
otherwise unable to express their desires.

you might want to check if the health care POA allows for the health care attorney to make choices about someone in the above condition. when i read the article, i got the idea that it might not.

https://www.state.sc.us/dmh/804-97.htm

Thanks for that perspective.

 

[Taxing Matters]

So, again, I don't see any circumstance in which a health care POA would not cover a situation which would be covered by a living will. Can anyone explain to me why I might want to have a living will in addition to a health care POA?

In general, a living will is a document in which you express your desires for certain kinds of treatment should you not be in a condition to speak for yourself at the time. This document would be used by medical care professionals to provide care consistent with your wishes.

A durable medical power of attorney is a document in which you nominate another person to be your agent to make health care related decisions for you. A durable POA is one that remains in effect even when you become incompetent and unable to manage your affairs. You may give direction in the medical power of attorney guidelines that your agent is to follow in making those decisions for you.

So with a durable medical power of attorney you are appointing someone else to make healthcare decisions for you whereas in a living will you are directly specifying to the medical community what kind of care they are to provide. You usually want both. You want the living will to address those specific situations that you can think of right now where you know exactly what kind of care you want provided (or not provided). The durable medical power of attorney is useful to have because you may end up in a situation you didn't expect where you cannot express your wishes and you want someone who has a good sense of what kinds of care you'd want to be able to express that the medical professionals.

In at least most states it is possible to combine the two into a single document. Whether you have them as separate documents or one combined document you may want to make clear that your living will is to be followed where it applies, overriding the decisions of your agent, and that the decisions of your agent only apply where the living will does not cover the situation.