Who You Choose Can Make A Difference

By Nicole Livingston, Attorney

SinclairProsser Law, LLC

It can be difficult to contemplate one’s own mortality. As a result, some people procrastinate in planning for what we all know will come in the fullness of time. Of course, those who plan will make an easier time for their family and friends. Planning is a loving thing to do.

When you plan, you choose people to make decisions for you, such as agents, guardians, executors, or trustees. Often, people do not give much thought to these decisions, just naming their oldest child or whoever pops into their mind. The choices for these roles are perhaps the most important decisions to make. Good choices can help to ensure your wishes are carried out, while bad choices can create turmoil and waste assets.

In a general durable power of attorney, you appoint someone to make decisions for property. For example, your agent could file income tax returns for you, change beneficiary designations on life insurance and retirement plans, etc. The powers granted can be limitless, depending on the comfort of the grantor. Many institutions, however, are skeptical of accepting property powers of attorney. They may require it be specific only for the purpose for which it is being used, such as purchasing a home, in which case they may want terms of the contract detailed in the document itself.

In a healthcare power of attorney, you appoint someone to make medical decisions for you in the event you can no longer do so for yourself. A Living Will can be used to express wishes you have regarding life-prolonging measures. Organ donation and specific religious preferences, such as a blood transfusion, can be outlined in this document.

Federal laws and regulations have created privacy protections for your medical information. These laws are known as “HIPAA” (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). Now physicians, hospitals, health insurers, and other covered entities must comply with strict rules or face fines and potential criminal penalties. An innocent mistake would incur a fine of $100. More serious breaches of privacy, such as releasing information for malicious harm, could result in fines of up to $250,000 and 10 years in prison. Understandably, health care providers are being extremely careful about the release of medical information in the face of such penalties.

Keeping your medical information private is a laudable goal. None of us wants our personal medical history to be the subject of office water cooler gossip or sold to the highest bidder. However, there are circumstances in which we may want some people to have access to our medical information. For example, if you check into a hospital and do not authorize release of medical information, the hospital will not release information about you to anyone. In fact, the hospital will tell callers that they have no information about you. This could leave family members searching for you and unable to find out where you are or how you are doing. In this event the HIPAA privacy hotline, (866) 627-7748, may be of some assistance. It’s wise to consider all possibilities ahead of time and to have an organized plan to save you and your family a lot of hassle.

SinclairProsser Law, LLC focuses its practice on estate planning and administration, including the interaction of retirement plans and elder law. An established member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, Colleen Sinclair Prosser, Nicole Livingston and Patricia Jaron offer years of knowledge and experience in matters associated with protecting estates and families from issues arising from death and disability. For more information visit www.sinclairprosserlaw.com.