Health Care Proxy In A Massachusetts Estate Plan

Health Care Proxy In A Massachusetts Estate Plan: What Is A Health Care Proxy?

Durable power of attorney is when you appoint someone that can make financial decisions on your behalf in the event you become incapacitated. Durable power of attorney for health care proxy is when you name someone to make health care decisions for you in the event that you become incapacitated.

In Massachusetts, you can’t limit your durable power of attorney like you can in some states. If you give someone durable power of attorney, they will be able to make whatever health care decision that they think makes sense for you.

Some durable powers of attorney are effective immediately, which means the named agent is able to make financial decisions even when the party has the capacity to make them for themselves. Other durable powers of attorney are so-called ‘springing’, which means that your agent can only make decisions in the event that you’re incapacitated.

Why Should I Consider Having A Healthcare Proxy?

You should consider having a healthcare proxy so that you have control over who will be making health care decisions on your behalf should you ever be in a position where you’re unable to do so for yourself. Most of the time, people don’t want some random person appointed by the court to do that for them. They prefer to choose someone they trust, such as a spouse.

Most of the time, if a person is married, the court will ultimately reach the decision to appoint a spouse as the healthcare proxy. It will just take longer than if you have already appointed them. Then, there are situations where there is no spouse or the spouse is similarly incapacitated, perhaps in the same incident.

So, in general, appointing a healthcare proxy is the best way to ensure that you can have peace of mind should you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re no longer able to make crucial decisions about your healthcare for yourself.

What Happens If You Do Not Have A Health Care Proxy?

In the event that you don’t have a healthcare proxy in place, a judge would have to decide who is going to be making the healthcare decisions for you. If you’re married, it will almost always be your spouse.

If you aren’t married, the judge will have to determine who is the most appropriate party to make those decisions based on their limited knowledge of who is closest to you. Often, it is simply going to be your closest relation, even if you aren’t actually close to them or may not trust them as much as you do someone else.

There have been instances where a judge appointed the mother of the individual as their healthcare proxy, not knowing that the mother had been estranged from the daughter for many years. The mother didn’t really know the daughter, didn’t get along with them, and barely spoke to them – and they were now responsible for making crucial healthcare decisions on their behalf.

So, that’s one example of why it’s important to proactively appoint a healthcare proxy before you ever think you will need one. For more information on Health Care Proxy In A MA Estate Plan, an initial consultation is your next best step.