Articles Tagged with “living will”

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Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for 1221950_to_sign_a_contract_1.jpgUnder New Jersey estate planning law, a living will, which is legally called an advanced directive, allows a person to give instructions for what care she is to receive her health is extremis. A living will must be in writing, signed and dated before two adult witnesses who attest that the person signing the advanced directive is of sound mind, and is not under duress or undue influence. Alternatively, it may be signed, dated and acknowledged before a New Jersey notary public or a New Jersey attorney.

Under law New Jersey law, a living will becomes effective when it is provided to the physician who has determined that the patient does not have the capacity to make her own health care decision. If at any point the patient regains the ability to make her own health care decisions, the patient regains the legal authority to direct her own care.

The main purposes of the living will are to allow a person to give her instructions or her wishes for when she is unable to do so herself and to appoint an agent to make decisions when she is unable to make her own decisions. The living will may direct that certain life-sustaining treatments be withheld. If, for example, the patient has an incurable or irreversible, severe mental or severe physical condition; is in a state of permanent unconsciousness or profound dementia; is severely injured; and in any of these cases there is no reasonable expectation of recovering and regaining any meaningful quality of life, then the living will may direct that life-sustaining treatments be withheld. New Jersey law provides that the attending physician, if it is consistent with the terms of the advance directive, may issue a “Do Not Resuscitate” order.

There are two types of advanced directives: an instruction directive and a proxy directive. These can be combined into one document. A person can chose to execute both types or either one standing alone.
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An estate plan carries out a person’s wishes at the time of their death and appoints people to make decisions during life.

An estate plan commonly consists of three main documents:
• Last will and testament
• Durable power of attorney • Living will and health care proxy (medical power of attorney)

Last Will and Testament. The fundamental document is the last will and testament. The will takes effect upon death. The will must meet the formal requirements under New Jersey law in order to be effective in New Jersey
The will designates people and their roles:
• Beneficiaries – recipients of the decedent’s assets;
• Executors – the persons who will probate the Will, collect the estate assets
and distribute the estate assets to the beneficiaries;
• Trustees – the persons who will manage the assets placed in a Trust usually
for the benefit of either the surviving spouse or the children or both;
• Guardians – the persons who will care for minor children until they reach the
age of majority (which is age 18 in New Jersey).

Durable Power of Attorney. The power of attorney is in effect when a person is alive; it becomes effective when it is signed. When a power of attorney is “durable”, it remains in effect even if the person is incapacitated. The durable power of attorney authorizes the people selected to handle your financial matters. Common tasks include banking, including writing checks and paying bills, real estate, trading investments, communicating with social security, pension benefits departments, Medicaid/Medicare, and the IRS, hiring accountants, attorneys, and financial advisors, and any other related financial need.
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