Maryland Healthcare Proxy Lawyer for Incapacity Planning

If you suffer a sudden injury or illness that leaves you incapacitated or unable to communicate your healthcare decisions, your friends and family members may not know what medical treatment you would choose for yourself if you were able.

At Chesapeake Wills and Trusts, we have over 20 years of experience providing estate planning services to the people of Maryland. One essential part of your estate plan should be planning for incapacity and end-of-life care with a living will and healthcare proxy. Our healthcare proxy lawyer can help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.

What Is a Healthcare Proxy?

A healthcare proxy is someone who can make healthcare decisions on your behalf, including whether to receive medical treatment, remain on life support, or receive nutrition through intubation.

Most people name a healthcare proxy when they create a healthcare power of attorney. If an incapacitated person doesn’t create a power of attorney, the state will appoint someone to become a surrogate decisionmaker based on their relationship with the incapacitated patient, including:

1. A legal guardian appointed by a court
2. A spouse or domestic partner
3. An adult child
4. A parent
5. An adult sibling
6. A friend or other relative with the appropriate affidavit to prove their relationship to the patient

While a healthcare proxy can make healthcare decisions for you, you should also name a durable power of attorney to make financial decisions on your behalf and manage your assets. A healthcare proxy lawyer with our firm can explain the difference between the different types of powers of attorney and which you need for your estate planning.

How Does a Healthcare Proxy Know What Healthcare Decisions To Make?

When you create a healthcare power of attorney, you should also write a living will. A living will includes your advance directives for medical decisions if you ever suffer an incapacity. Your healthcare proxy can use the instructions in your living will to facilitate your healthcare decisions when you are unable to communicate your own wishes.

Your living will should include instructions for:

• Whether to maintain you on life support and under which conditions
• Administration of pain medications (palliative care)
• Administration of nutrition and fluids through IV or intubation
• Tests or medical treatment you wish to reject for religious reasons
• Whether to maintain you on life support for the purpose of organ donation

Contact a Healthcare Proxy Lawyer With Our Law Firm in Maryland

For help developing a comprehensive plan in the event of your sudden incapacitation, contact us at Chesapeake Wills and Trusts today to schedule a consultation with a healthcare proxy lawyer. Call us at 443-232-9479 or contact us online to meet with an estate planning attorney in Glen Burnie, MD.