Medical POA

Family caregivers, especially those with medical power of attorney (POA), should assemble a folder containing these 9 important medical details that can be easily handed off to nurses, doctors and first responders when seniors need emergency health care.

Even if you were heavily involved in the decision to place an elderly loved one in a senior living facility, you must have certain legal documents in place to participate in conversations with staff about their medical care.

If you anticipate needing to make medical decisions for elderly parents or your spouse in the future, make sure you have these 3 key legal documents in place.

Once you've successfully taken the steps to get a dementia patient to go to the doctor, use the following tips to have an efficient, effective doctor's appointment.

Adding this one simple step when creating or changing a will, powers of attorney and other crucial legal documents can prevent unnecessary stress, legal problems and familial discord down the road.

Power of attorney documents allow caregivers to access personal information and make vital decisions for elderly loved ones, but some institutions require additional forms. See what other authorizations you may need to get.

Whether you’ve been named as someone else’s power of attorney (POA) or you’re looking to appoint one for yourself, know what rights, responsibilities and limitations come with this legal designation.

An estate plan that will safeguard a senior’s health and finances consists of a will, advance directives and powers of attorney. Familiarize yourself with these basic legal documents before estate planning begins.

Power of attorney (POA) documents are an important part of a person's legal plans. The way a POA is written determines when it goes into effect and specifies what powers the agent holds.

When taking your elderly parent to the doctor, maximize your time on each visit by keeping a notebook with your questions, observations on mental or physical changes since the last visit, lists of medications, and recommendations for follow up care.

Eliminate the issue of potential disagreements about your future care by naming a single individual in the health care directive.

A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR) is an advance care planning document that specifies what potentially life-sustaining medical interventions a person does not want to receive. A basic DNR order usually states a patient’s wish to avoid undergoing CPR.

In order to make most decisions on an aging loved one's behalf, you must be given the legal power to do so. A durable power of attorney is a document your relative executes that gives you specific legal powers to act on his or her behalf.

Essential legal documents for estate planning and long-term care planning often need to be notarized to prove they’re valid. However, notarization can be tricky if a senior has Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

Misinformation persists among patients and even doctors about the consequences of discharge against medical advice. Leaving the hospital AMA is a patient's right and does not affect insurance coverage, but it may come with health risks.

Power of attorney forms are widely available online, but these forms aren’t meant to be one-size-fits-all. There are a few key points to consider before deciding against working with an elder law attorney to draw up a customized POA document.

Advance directives are useful for end-of-life care planning, but there's another tool that goes one step further. POLST forms enable terminally ill elders to turn their future care preferences into explicit medical orders for doctors and first responders.

We retain health records, financial statements and tax documents just in case we need them, but this can be overwhelming for caregivers who store their loved ones’ files, too. Use these tips to organize what you should keep and purge what you shouldn’t.

Aging is scary for a multitude of reasons and that fear often manifests as a refusal to participate in doctor’s appointments and medical treatments. What can a caregiver do if an aging parent refuses to go to the doctor?