{"id":2571,"date":"2011-11-20T14:27:11","date_gmt":"2011-11-20T21:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2011-11-20T14:27:11","modified_gmt":"2011-11-20T21:27:11","slug":"healthcare-power-of-attorney-or-els","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/healthcare-power-of-attorney-or-els\/","title":{"rendered":"Have a Healthcare Power of Attorney or Else . . ."},"content":{"rendered":"

As a Grand Rapids, Michigan estate planning attorney<\/a> I’m regularly involved in, and overhear, conversations involving the various aspects of estate planning. \u00a0Interesting to me is that many of those conversation involve wills, trusts, and financial powers of attorney, yet far less involve healthcare powers of attorney or patient advocate designations. \u00a0And many that do, give it merely a passing mention and may even involve talk of just “using the state form . . . it should work fine.” \u00a0This concerns me!<\/span><\/p>\n

Why? \u00a0Because we’re talking about YOU – this is your life, your health and your well being. \u00a0Why would you give it nothing more than a passing thought, especially in a day when we are living longer and have increased care needs because of it? \u00a0I have heard many wonderful people say “my family knows what I want and I trust them to make the right decision.” \u00a0Well, what is the “right” decision? \u00a0Have you talked to them about it? \u00a0How long ago was it? \u00a0Has your mind changed about your healthcare in that time? \u00a0Do you think they remember what you shared with them? \u00a0Are you sure<\/em>\u00a0they will follow your wishes?<\/span><\/p>\n

I’m not just talking about “pulling the plug,” although that seems to be what most of us think about when we think of others making medical decisions on our behalf. \u00a0What about complications during surgery? \u00a0During other period when you are\u00a0unconscious? \u00a0Choosing who will make these decisions on your behalf<\/a> is very <\/em>important!<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope I’m not off base with my concern for the lack of care given to such an important part of our estate plans. \u00a0I believe this should be a key consideration in every<\/em>\u00a0estate plan, no matter how young or old you may be – things happen that are out of our control. \u00a0Please consider this a wake-up call to run (not walk) to an estate planning attorney who will take the time to learn who you are, what is important to you, and help you design a plan<\/a> that provides you with the care you want and deserve while giving your family and friends clear guidance on your wishes.<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S. I regularly hear “oh, I’m all set – I have a living will.” \u00a0If that’s you, read my earlier blog post on the topic by clicking here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael Lichterman<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>is an estate planning and business planning attorney who helps families and business owners create a lasting legacy by planning for their\u00a0Whole Family Wealth\u2122<\/span><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0 This goes beyond merely planning for finances – it’s about who your are and what’s important to you.\u00a0 He focuses on estate and asset protection planning for\u00a0 the “experienced” generation, the “sandwich generation” (caring for parents and children), doctors\/physicians, nurses, lawyers, dentists, professionals with minor children, family owned businesses and pet planning.\u00a0 He takes the “counselor” part of attorney and counselor at law very seriously, and enjoys creating life long relationships with his clients – many of which have become great friends.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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As a Grand Rapids, Michigan estate planning attorney I’m regularly involved in, and overhear, conversations involving the various aspects of estate planning. \u00a0Interesting to me is that many of those conversation involve wills, trusts, and financial powers of attorney, yet far less involve healthcare powers of attorney or patient advocate designations. \u00a0And many that do, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[16,30,38,35,127,126,124,75,40],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-estate-planning","tag-grand-rapids-estate-planning","tag-grand-rapids-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-michigan-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-grand-rapids-trusts-lawyer","tag-grandville-mi-estate-planning-lawyer","tag-michigan-healthcare-directive","tag-michigan-healthcare-power-of-attorney","tag-wills-and-trusts-attorney-grand-rapids-michigan","tag-wyoming-mi-estate-planning-lawyer"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2571"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2588,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions\/2588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lichtermanlaw.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}