Power of Attorney (POA) and "Living Will" - "I'm young ... I don't need those."

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That's what I hear from a good deal of my client's in their 30's, 40's, and even in their early 50's. Recently, I received a call from someone to ask for legal advice. Her brother was divorced, had a young child, was in his early 40's, and a construction worker. A couple weeks ago, a large piece of equipment collapsed and fell on top of him.

He suffered a traumatic brain injury, paralysis from the upper chest down, and was on life-support in critical care in the hospital. The prognosis was bad and the man's doctors really needed decisions on care. But instead of having one person appointed to make medical decisions to work with the doctors, the family broke out into a battle on who was going to determine what care would be authorized and the doctors were forced to extend what some family members felt was a painful and lingering death.

The family member that contacted me was doing so to commence the legal proceeding necessary to fight for the authority to make these medical decisions as well as other legal decisions for the severely injured worker. For a few hundred dollars of legal planning, the family would have saved the thousands it is getting ready spend on a legal battle. Also, the family has not been able to make any legal decisions or transactions while the victim has been incapacitated, like transfer money, exercise employee benefits, etc.

If this ends the way the family and doctors believe, the next fight will be over the estate. I understand there is no Will either. There were reasons I could not take the case. So my understanding of it is very basic. This is a tragic situation and a hardship on the family on many levels. A person is never too young to plan for the worst.

For a more detailed explanation of a Will, Power-of-Attorney, and a Healthcare Declaration/Living Will, check out our Estate Planning page http://medveskylaw.blogspot.com/p/wills-powers-of-attorney-living.html here and our website http://www.medveskylaw.com/Estate-Planning/Wills-Living-Wills-And-Powers-Of-Attorney.shtml

If you want assistance, legal representation, or just want to know more about Medvesky Law Office, LLC, check out our website at www.medveskylaw.com.

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