Advance Directive Attorneys in North Haven, Connecticut

An advance directive can give you a voice in decisions related to your healthcare when you are no longer able to make decisions yourself due to becoming incapacitated or otherwise losing your ability to communicate.  

Advance directives can be valuable tools to protect people from receiving unwanted care and ensure that their wishes are respected and followed. Given the role an advance directive can play in your life, it is vital to contact our attorneys at DeChello Law Firm LLC, to get help in drafting advance directives and other planning documents. Our advance directive attorneys in North Haven, Connecticut, can help you prepare for the unexpected. We serve clients throughout New Haven County.

What Is an Advance Directive?

An “advance directive” is an umbrella term for various planning documents designed to protect a person’s best interests when receiving medical care. Through an advance directive, you can express your wishes regarding future medical treatment, including end-of-life care, when you are no longer able to make decisions on your own. The following are some of the common types of advance directive documents: 

• A living will. A living will comes in the form of a written statement that describes a person’s wishes regarding future health care. The document is used to detail how a person would prefer to receive medical treatment when they can no longer make decisions for themselves (e.g., due to being permanently unconscious). In the document, you can specify your end-of-life healthcare preferences.  

• Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST). This document can give you even more control over your end-of-life care than a living will. Through a MOLST, you can outline what types of treatment you would want and not want to receive in order to restore, sustain, or prolong your life. In particular, it can specify when and under what conditions you would want to be hospitalized.  

• A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order. With a DNR order, you can instruct medical professionals whether or not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation when your heart stops or you can no longer breathe. Under Connecticut law, a DNR order is valid only if it was written by a licensed physician.  

Having an advance directive can accomplish several things. Firstly, it can ensure that your wishes will be respected when you cannot express them in the future. Secondly, it can provide medical professionals with guidance regarding your care. Lastly, it can free your family of the responsibility and stress of making tough decisions for you. 

When Do You Need an Advance Directive?

You might be wondering by now, “When is the right time to create an advance directive?” There is no definitive answer to this question. Generally, however, the sooner you start planning for your future, the better. It would make sense to complete an advance directive when: 

1. You are healthy. Even if you are healthy, you cannot rule out the fact that unexpected things can happen at any moment. This includes getting into a devastating car accident.  

2. You have a chronic medical problem. Many people live with chronic conditions. In some cases, the chronic medical problem may eventually make an individual unable to communicate their wishes.  

3. You have a serious illness. If you have a serious illness, you might want to consider drafting an advance directive to ensure that you continue to receive medical care that is consistent with your wishes even when you can no longer make decisions for yourself.  

4. You are near the end of your life. If you know that you do not have long, completing an advance directive can give you much-needed peace of mind knowing that your wishes will be honored.  

Once an advance directive is created, you should review the documents periodically to ensure that they still accurately reflect your wishes. As your circumstances, priorities, or wishes change, you can modify your advance directive.  

How Can an Advance Directive Attorney Help? 

Working with an estate planning attorney can make the process more efficient and straightforward. There are many ways an advance directive attorney in North Haven, Connecticut, can help, including:  

• advise you on what documents you should create as part of your advance directive;  

• understand your wishes and values and ensure that they are clearly communicated in the advance directive;  

• help you select a healthcare representative;  

• prepare the paperwork and draft the documents needed to complete an advance directive;  

• ensure that your advance directive is valid and enforceable;  

• help you store your documents in a secure place so that your healthcare representative and family members can find them; and, 

• when necessary, help you make changes to your advance directive to keep it up to date.  

Reach out to our attorneys at DeChello Law Firm LLC, to get knowledgeable assistance and reliable guidance throughout the process of creating an advance directive and other planning documents.