Planning for Life

By Harry S. Margolis

With the Baby Boom commonly defined as beginning in 1946, the leading edge of the Baby Boomers are turning 75 this year. (Interestingly, three United States presidents, Bill Clinton, George H. Bush, and Donald Trump, were all born in that first Baby Boom year.)

But what does it mean that Baby Boomers are just beginning to cross this threshold? For them? For society? This blog post will discuss the former—planning for 75-year-olds—and a subsequent post will discuss the latter—the impact on our society of aging Baby Boomers.

A Time to Plan

Borrowing both from Ecclesiastes and from my friend and colleague Rajiv Nagaich of Life Point Law in Washington State, age 75 is a good time to plan for the second half of retirement.

By Harry S. Margolis

In Massachusetts, the courts may civilly commit an individual who is of substantial risk to herself and others and may authorize the administration of antipsychotic medications. But if she has a health care proxy, who decides, the court or her health care agent?

By Harry S. Margolis

While we include health care proxies in all the estate planning packages we prepare for clients, you don't need a lawyer to get one. Hospitals and other medical facilities commonly hand out the form created by the Massachusetts Medical Society, which you can also download here.

Just print out the form, choose your agent and a successor, in case your original choice is unavailable, and sign the document before two witnesses.

By Harry S. Margolis

As long as we are 18 or over and have our wits together, we all have the right to make our own health care decisions. But what happens when we become incapacitated, whether temporarily or permanently, and cannot make such decisions?

Then, legally, only a court-appointed guardian or an agent under a health care proxy can make decisions for us. In an emergency, medical providers can take measures to keep us alive, but once the emergency has passed, no one has the right to step in and make decisions in the absence of a health care proxy or guardianship appointment.

By Harry S. Margolis

A new website offers information and resources for individuals and families facing end-of-life challenges. It is designed as both a destination itself with answers to questions about end-of-life topics and as a directory of services in the community. The website, www.endwithcare.org, grew out of the work of the Massachusetts Commission on End of Life Care and the Massachusetts Experts Panel on End of Life Care, which in 2014 came out with the report, Looking Forward: 2014 and Beyond. 

By Harry S. Margolis

We advise all of our clients to name an agent under a health care proxy to make health care decisions for them when and if they cannot do so for themselves. Many clients want to name more than one person to this role.

They may not want to be seeming to play favorites by choosing one child over others. Or, more often, they want any health care decisions to be made by all of their children acting together. After all, these can be life and death decisions.