Be Proactive About Your Healthcare Decision Making…’Have the Talk’

April 16th is National Healthcare Decision Day! So often we go through life making decisions on the traditional rights of passage in life: college education, career path, choosing a spouse, having children, buying our first home, vacationing, retirement…you name it! But one key crossroad we often fail to think about is healthcare decision making. We can all agree that most of us don’t think about this until a crisis hits and the pivotal decisions of expressing healthcare wishes can no longer be ignored. As a result of not taking preventative measures, families all-too-often suffer the added burden of having to guess what their loved ones healthcare wishes are.

Not this Saturday…it’s time to ‘Have the Talk!’ Join the discussion on National Healthcare Decisions Day, April 16th, and start talking and documenting healthcare wishes with your immediate and extended family. Forward this blog to your friends, staff, colleagues, lodge/social club members and or/house of worship, telling them that you are participating in NHDD and encouraging them to do the same. Prevention and preparation are the keys to alleviate the familiar burdens of a healthcare crisis. Once you ‘Have the Talk’ and you decide to take action, Oast and Hook is here to offer support, guidance and direction to your healthcare decision making journey.

Oast & Hook’s Estate Planning will address the following issues:

• Who will make healthcare decisions for me if I become disabled?
• What kind of medical care do I want if I am dying and can’t make decisions for myself?
• If I am disabled, how will I pay for my nursing home of long-term care and for the support for those who depend on me?
• Who do I want to manage my assets and personal affairs if I become disabled?
• Who do I want to settle my affairs and distribute my property after my death?
• Where do I want my property to go at my death?
• Do any of my beneficiaries require assistance or protection?
• How can I minimize expenses, taxes (income, probate, and estate taxes) and delays if I become disabled or die?
• When I die, will I have sufficient assets or insurance to pay the expenses and taxes resulting from my death and to provide for beneficiaries?

Schedule your estate planning appointment today!

SAVE THE DATE: Oast & Hook is pleased to participate in this year’s National Healthcare Decisions Day. Oast & Hook attorney Sandra Smith will participate in a program on Friday, April 16th at Westminster Canterbury on the Chesapeake Bay. Ms. Smith will be discussing surrogate decision making and other estate planning issues. Learn more about National Healthcare Decisions Day and get free information at www.nationalhealthcaredecisionsday.org.