Estate planning could help you address decisions that arise during your lifetime and determine property distribution after your death. If illness or injury leaves you unable to communicate, written health care instructions could provide important guidance and tell your family and medical providers which treatments you would or would not want.
Living wills in Staten Island provide a way to record those wishes in advance. Preparing a will early also allows you to coordinate your medical instructions with the rest of your estate documents. Our wills attorneys could help you put your wishes in writing and determine how your living will works alongside a healthcare proxy.
A living will is a written statement describing your health care wishes if you are later unable to make decisions for yourself. It is different from a testament because it does not control the distribution of your property. Instead, it addresses medical treatment while you are alive.
New York State does not require a specific statutory form for a living will. Instead, the document should clearly express your medical wishes so others may rely on it if you later lack capacity. Living will planning in Staten Island may address preferences involving:
Specific instructions could be more useful than broad statements because medical decisions may depend on your condition and the treatment your doctors are considering. Your document should therefore reflect the choices you want medical staff to follow under circumstances you have considered in advance.
A living will records your treatment preferences. A healthcare proxy appoints another person to make health care decisions for you when you lack capacity. Under New York Public Health Law § 2981, an adult with capacity may designate a health care agent by signing and dating a proxy in the presence of two adult witnesses. The agent named in the document may not serve as one of those witnesses.
The living will and health care proxy documents could complement each other in an advance directive plan. Your living will provides written evidence of your preferences, while your health care agent may respond to unanticipated circumstances. A Staten Island attorney could review both documents together to ensure they reflect your current wishes and comply with state requirements.
Your health care wishes and personal circumstances may change over time. A living will prepared years ago may no longer reflect your treatment choices, and the person named in a health care proxy may no longer be the individual you want making decisions.
Staten Island residents should periodically review their living will to ensure they keep those instructions consistent. Creating new written treatment wishes does not necessarily cancel an existing health care proxy. N.Y. Pub. Health Law § 2985 specifically provides that written wishes or instructions do not revoke a proxy unless they expressly state otherwise. Reviewing both documents together could reduce the risk of conflicting directions and help ensure that your agent understands the medical choices that matter to you.
A clear advance directive gives the people involved in your care meaningful guidance when you cannot communicate for yourself. Living wills in Staten Island document your medical preferences and work alongside a properly prepared healthcare proxy.
We could help you evaluate your treatment wishes, review existing advance directives, and prepare documents that fit within your broader estate plan. Contact us at The Law Offices of Louis P. Lepore to discuss your living will and other healthcare planning options.
(718) 354-8646