Legal documents your client should have


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If you provide at-home senior care, you probably agree it’s best to be overprepared, rather than underprepared, for a potential emergency. For many seniors, this means taking care of some important end-of-life legal matters. As a provider of elderly home care services, it’s a good idea to make sure your clients are prepared with these three important legal documents:

1. Health-care proxy
A health-care proxy’s purpose is to give someone the power to make medical decisions for your client. Also known as a durable power of attorney, this document must be drawn up and signed while the senior is still mentally able to make decisions. The document gives the decision-making power to just one person – usually a family member.

2. Advanced care directive
An advanced health care directive, also called a living will, legally states the senior’s end of life medical wishes. Some of the most common specifications in an advanced care directive include the senior’s wishes for resuscitation, life support and other medical procedures that could prolong his or her life. 

3. Will
Everyone should have a will drawn up in case an emergency occurs. A senior’s will gives specific directions for who should receive any finances or other property in the event of his or her death.