Living Wills

Important Documents Checklist

February 1st, 2008 by Gilbert Guide

What financial and legal documents do you and your elderly loved ones need? Download Gilbert Guide’s Important Docs Suitcase for a checklist of all the important paperwork you need. The file is in a pdf format. You will need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader® if you do not have it installed on your computer. (Don’t worry; it’s free, safe and simple to use.)...Read the rest of this article »

Essential Legal Documents: What Are Advanced Directives, Living Wills and Powers of Attorney?

January 23rd, 2008 by Gilbert Guide

What Legal Documents Do I Need? There are three legal documents you need, at a minimum. It is in your best interests to appoint a health care proxy, someone who acts on your behalf in the event that you cannot make decisions for yourself due to medical incapacitation. You should also have a living will, which states the procedures you would want (or not want) performed in specific situations. Drafting a power of attorney for your financial affairs is also...Read the rest of this article »

What You Need to Know About Living Wills: Part 1

March 26th, 2007 by Ami Icanberry

I think the only living being who may not have yet heard of the Terri Schiavo case is my cat, Mildred. And, she’s no dummy. In all seriousness though, Schiavo’s case brought to the forefront our own thoughts on end of life, and the myriad moral, political and medical issues it affords. Owing in large part to an overly zealous media, we know the heart-wrenching story of the woman in her twenties who spent 15 years in a senior...Read the rest of this article »

What You Need to Know About Living Wills: Part 2

March 25th, 2007 by Ami Icanberry

(This is the second half in a two-part series. Read What You Need to Know About Living Wills: Part 1.) In continuing last week’s discussion on advance directives and the various types, I ran across an article published by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, which illustrates the importance of these documents. In a recent survey put forth to families of some 1,500 people who died—71% of whom had advance directives—“families felt better about their communication with their...Read the rest of this article »

Dying with Dignity

February 27th, 2007 by Ami Icanberry

My grandmother passed away surrounded by loved ones in the sterility of a hospital room. Recently diagnosed with stomach cancer, she was shuttled back and forth to the hospital until the end. Her illness and subsequent passing happened so swiftly that we were shell-shocked. What would she have wanted? From the start of her illness, Grandma was not pleased with her doctors or the care she was receiving. She did not want to go to the hospital, preferring instead...Read the rest of this article »