As you get older, it becomes increasingly important to make sure that appropriate processes and mechanisms are in place for the purpose of safeguarding your interests. Therefore, when it comes to completing your estate planning, you should consider the content of Laura Richardson’s latest article that explains the importance of one such mechanism: an Advance Directive in Colchester. . .

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As you get older, it is extremely likely that you will have an increasing need for healthcare. Sadly, many older people, due to serious illness or dementia, lose the capacity to make important healthcare decisions for themselves. If you are no longer able to make your own decisions regarding your health care, then it is often the case that these type of decisions fall to your next of kin. In many cases, a person’s next of kin constitutes their children. Therefore you may choose to discuss your wishes with their children in the hope that, if the time comes, your children would make any important healthcare decisions based on your wishes. However, according to a report published in 2014 by the Institute of Public Policy Research, by 2030 there will be two million people aged over 65 who do not have adult children. This is a significant rise from the 1.2 million recorded in 2012. In terms of percentage, this would mean that approximately one quarter of people will reach old age without ever having had children.

If you do not have any children to voice your wishes with regard to your end of life care, you may wish to take legal steps to ensure that your care givers will make any necessary healthcare decisions in line with your wishes. One of the ways in which you can ensure that you retain control of important healthcare decisions, is through an Advance Directive in Colchester. An Advance Directive is a legally binding document that details what actions you wish to be taken in regard to your health, should you be unable to voice these wishes for yourself. Typically an Advance Directive is used to refuse such life-sustaining treatments as artificial feeding, artificial ventilation or CPR.

In order for an Advance Directive in Colchester to be legally binding you must be over the age of 18 and have had the mental capacity to understand the implications of the decisions recorded within the document at the time it was made. Furthermore, your Advance Directive must be specific in terms of which treatments you wish to refuse, as well as the circumstances in which you wish to refuse them. In order to be valid, it is also imperative that you must not have been acting under any duress or under the instructions of another when making your Advance Directive. Once your Advance Directive is legally valid, it will give you the peace of mind that should you ever be unable to speak for yourself, you will only receive treatment in accordance with your predetermined wishes. An Advance Directive overrules the opinions or desires of any other party who may be involved in making your health care decisions, so you can be certain that your decisions will be adhered to.

If you would like to discuss making an Advance Directive in Colchester or anywhere else throughout Essex then please contact Andrew Douglas Wills and Legal Services to find out more with a free initial consultation.

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