What Are Advanced Medical Directives in Calgary, Alberta?
Calgary Lawyers For Advanced Medical Directives
An advanced medical directive, or advance directive, are instructions that refer to your future medical care in the event that you are ever unable to make your own decisions. They are sometimes referred to as a living will, personal directive or advanced health care directive. Legally a person retains the ability to give either written or oral instructions. However, in order to prove that they are in place in Alberta, written advanced personal directives better protect you and your loved ones.
Advance personal directives also need to be legal in order to be binding and valid. This means you will likely want to speak with a advanced medical directive lawyer about setting them up. It is always better to set up your directive now rather than waiting. If you wait too long, you won’t have much of a choice over what happens to you. The advanced medical directive lawyers at Kahane Law Office in Calgary, Alberta are here to help. Advanced medical directives are normally part of a package that includes a will and an enduring power of attorney.
Why Do You Need An Advanced Medical Directive?
Who should be in charge of what happens to you if you become incapacitated? Mental capacity is a legal term. It is not a medical one. You want to make sure that you have control over the medical decisions that will ultimately affect your life and well being. If you are incapacitated, you don’t want some outside party deciding what happens to you. You also do not want a well meaning family member to force decisions that you do not agree with on you.
When you have an advanced medical directive in place, you still retain the ability to make any decisions for your medical care while you are in control of your body and mind. You can receive or refuse any type of medical treatment needed. The only time the directive goes into action is when you are unable to make those decisions. Ensure that you prepare and sign this legal document also stop fights between family members. You avoid the fighting as the choices of what care you want as you draft your choices into the authorizing paperwork.
In Alberta, you have a certain set of rights when it comes to your medical health and privacy. You have the right to determine what type of treatment you will receive. The advanced medical directive simply ensures that these rights continue even if you are unable to voice your decisions due to incapacitation.
What If You Do Not Have An This In Place?
Without an advanced medical directive, your family or friends face making a court application to get a guardianship order. This is a court order that specifies who has the legal right to make medical decisions for you. These orders can take a long time, are much more expensive than an setting this up in advance. In addition, often family members contest the decisions made as well as the person to make these decisions. Unfortunately, this happens when family members already have the stress of your loss of capacity.
Getting Help With Health Care Related Directives In Alberta
Now that you see the benefits that having an advanced medical directives offers and the basics of how it works, it is time to set one up for yourself. Contact an attorney in the area who has experience in the field and who is able to set up your directive, either a living will or a durable power of attorney, to your satisfaction. The legal mire can be confusing to unravel, and working with a quality attorney simply in Alberta makes it so much easier. Having one of these in place will be helpful for any individual. Age and state of current health do not matter. Make sure you plan for the future. Include a directive in your estate planning while you have the ability to do so.
Kahane Law Video On Medical Directives
Learn more about personal and medical directives. Our video is short and informative. Click here to watch our personal and medical directive video on YouTube.
Your Advanced Medical Directive / Living Will
Our advanced medical directive lawyers in Calgary can help you understand the complexities of advanced medical directives and can help draft one to fit your needs. Kahane Law Office would be pleased to assist you in all matters relating to powers of attorney. You can reach us toll-free at 1-877-225-8817, 403-225-8810 locally or contact us online for a medical directive to learn more today.