“The
presumption is that everyone has someone available, someone most likely younger
or in better health, and better able to carry out one’s wishes or make
decisions with your guidance …”
But not everyone does.
When it comes time to make
life-and-death health decisions on your behalf, what do you do if you have no
“family” to name as your healthcare proxy or as the agent on your power of
attorney?
The New Old Age blog of The New
York Times recently took up the question of “When There’s No Family.”
This is an especially difficult
problem for many seniors. They
oftentimes need someone to wield a power of attorney and even a medical
directive to go to bat in their interests with medical staff, not to mention
settling aspects of the estate. While there are close friends for many seniors
even in lieu of family, it is still not uncommon to be without even these.
According to the American Bar
Association’s Commission on Law and Aging, “perhaps 4 percent of older adults
are ‘the unbefriended elderly,’ a chilling phrase referring to those who cannot
make decisions for themselves, have no advance directive or surrogate decision
maker, and have no family or friends able to assist.”
Unfortunately, there are few
easy solutions. Even engaging a professional to serve in such capacities can be
a difficult road, too. The professional will be bound to certain standards and
difficult legal requirements. In addition, not everyone can serve in this capacity,
especially the medical staff an elderly person may have come to befriend and
rely upon.
Fortunately, solutions are
emerging — like the notion of a “care community” of elderly individuals
looking after one another, financially, medically and often legally.
Whether such a solution is open
to you, it is still absolutely vital to have robust advanced directives
concerning end-of-life decisions. Make sure you have appointed someone you know
and trust to speak for you and do for you when you cannot. The importance of
having your end-of-life wishes committed to writing cannot be overemphasized.
Please
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The archive on our website contains numerous blog posts on these legal
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Reference: The New York
Times – The New Old Age (September 23, 2013) “When There’s No Family”