When Hospitalized: Review Will, Estate Plan, etc.
To schedule an appointment, contact our law firm at 403-400-4092 or Chris@NeufeldLegal.com
Hospitalization is often a sudden and stressful event that serves as a profound "reality check" for one’s personal affairs. Not only does it provide a recognition of one's own mortality, it also reinforces the fact that without the appropriate legal documents (will, power of attorney, personal directive), you have effectively ceded control to persons not necessarily of your choosing and without any true instructions or guidance. In turn, should you be come truly incapacitated and incapable of making your own decisions, you could find yourself at the mercy of others, both with respect to your personal health and your finances. This powerful moment of clarity, as to your own mortality and the importance of legally establishing your estate plan, reinforces the need to create or review (and potentially revise) those very important legal documents - your will, power of attorney, personal directive and other relevant estate planning documents.
One of the most pressing reasons for a review is the immediate relevance of a Personal Directive (for health) and a Power of Attorney (for property and finances). While a Will only takes effect after death, your Personal Directive and Power of Attorney are vital while you are still alive but unable to communicate. If you are in a Canadian hospital, physicians will look to your Attorney for Personal Care for consent on treatments, surgeries, or end-of-life care. If your Personal Directive is outdated (perhaps naming an ex-spouse or a relative who is no longer able to serve) or you never executed a Personal Directive (or it is legally invalid), the hospital may be forced to follow a statutory hierarchy of next-of-kin that does not align with your true preferences.
Hospitalization also provides the necessary medical context to refine Personal Directives. General instructions written years ago, such as "no heroic measures," can be dangerously vague in a modern clinical setting. By reviewing these documents while hospitalized, you can consult with your healthcare team to tailor your instructions to your specific diagnosis. This ensures that your substitute decision-maker isn't guessing whether "heroic measures" includes the specific ventilator or feeding tube options currently being discussed by your doctors.
Beyond medical care, the financial implications of a prolonged hospital stay necessitate a review of your Power of Attorney (for property and finances). If you are unable to manage your affairs from a hospital bed, your designated attorney needs the legal authority to pay your mortgage, manage your taxes, and handle accounts like RRSPs or TFSAs. An outdated document might lack the specific "continuing" or "enduring" clauses required by your province to remain valid during incapacity, potentially resulting in a "frozen" estate that requires a costly and slow court-appointed guardianship (committeeship) to resolve.
From a legacy perspective, a hospital stay often changes one's outlook on the distribution of assets. Life-altering health events frequently prompt a desire to adjust one's Last Will and Testament, whether to include a grandchild born since the last update, change an executor who is no longer up to the task, or incorporate a charitable gift to the healthcare facility providing care. Ensuring your Will is up-to-date while you still possess the mental capacity to make changes is vital, as a later decline in health could permanently "lock" an old Will in place, leading to potential litigation among heirs [more on attending to affairs of a loved one].
So if you or a loved one has been admitted to Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre, Peter Lougheed Centre, Rockyview General Hospital, South Health Campus, Tom Baker Cancer Centre, Cochrane Community Health Centre, Airdrie Community Health Centre or other medical facility, hospice or seniors home in metropolitan Calgary, Alberta, you need to ensure that your own (or your loved one’s) last will & testament, power of attorney and personal directive is up-to-date and reflects your current intentions. If you or a loved one requires a hospital visiting lawyer to attend to a last will & testament, power of attorney, personal directive, trust or other estate planning document, contact our law firm today at 403-400-4092 or via email at Chris@NeufeldLegal.com to schedule a confidential initial consultation.*
* Please note that travel time and attending at the hospital / hospice / seniors home will incur additional cost and expense as compared to comparable legal work on wills, trusts, personal directives and powers of attorney. Click here for more information about hospital appointments.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This website is designed for general informational purposes. The site is not designed to answer specific questions about your individual situation or entitlement. Do not rely upon the information provided on this website as legal advice in respect of your individual situation nor use it as substitute for individual legal advice. If you want specific legal advice, you need to engage a lawyer under established legal engagement procedures that have been specifically agreed to by that lawyer.
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