03/16/2020
Coronavirus and Healthcare Powers of Attorney
As coronavirus continues to spread, more and more people will need to visit their doctors or hospitals. For most of us, that means talking to your healthcare professional and making a plan for treatment to get better soon. However, who is in charge of making your decisions when you are unable to make them yourself?
That's where Healthcare Powers of Attorney come in. A Healthcare Power of Attorney, or HCPOA, is a legal document that - if completed and signed correctly - lets someone else make medical decisions for you when you can't make those decisions. This person can ask for a second opinion, sign consent forms, hire or fire medical personnel on your case, or even request a new treatment if the current one isn't working.
The time to make an HCPOA is when you're healthy because, by the time you need one, it's often too late. In the legal world, a person must be "competent" in order for their signature on a document (like an HCPOA) to be effective. But you only need an HCPOA when you're no longer competent. So by the time you need it, you're almost certainly disqualified from making one.
In order to help out our local community, I'll be offering free HCPOAs for people in Portage and Summit Counties, which are my main practice areas. If you're interested in learning more, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. As a virtual law firm, I can walk you through the document and signing requirements remotely.
In the meantime, please wash your hands, stay home if you can, and donate to local community resources like food pantries to help your most vulnerable neighbors.
