Walk It Through: The Mother Who Cannot Decide
A stroke, a health care agent, a living will, and a guardianship hearing when there is neither.
After a stroke, a mother cannot speak for herself. The doctors ask who makes decisions.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
Health care decisions for an adult. Financial powers of attorney, conservators of property and minors are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- DeclarationA signed statement about withholding life sustaining procedures, witnessed by two people not related to the signer, effective only in a terminal condition.
- Durable power of attorneyA power of attorney that keeps working after the donor becomes incompetent because it says so in words to that effect.
- Durable power of attorney for health careA statutory form naming an agent to make health care decisions, signed by a resident at least eighteen years of age.
- Limited guardianA guardian appointed for some areas of decision making rather than all, after a petition and a hearing.