Fellow legal bloggers Danielle and Andy Mayoras (find them here and here) have a great article today about end-of-life lessons to be learned from Joan River’s passing. All estate plans should include planning for incapacity and end-of-life decision making. The Mayoras’ article excellently explains why this is so important.
As they explain: “Too many people think that estate planning is all about wills and trusts. Far from it, end of life planning is often more important. In fact, every adult over the age of 18 needs to have some type of advance directive in place.” The consequences of not having such documents and place, can include a public and invasive guardianship proceedings through the courts, in order for the family to be legally appointed the decision makers. In the case of facing an end of life decision, such as in Joan Rivers’ example, this process could be particularly painful and compound the grieving process of the family forced to make such decisions. (Can you imagine the pain of having to go to court to obtain a guardianship while your loved one is near life’s end?) Further, as the Mayoras explain, the guardianship process “can set the stage for a nasty family fight if people disagree on termination of life support (Terri Schiavo being a prominent example), or even a complete refusal to allow the life support to end, if the patient’s wishes were never reflected in writing.”
Bottom line: incapacity planning, including appointing a decisionmaker and stating your end-of-life wishes through a Living Will, are essential to any solid estate plan. Such planning is an invaluable gift to yourself and your loved ones.