A health care surrogate (also known as a health care power of attorney) is a person who makes medical decisions for you when you can no longer communicate with your doctor. Every adult should have a health care surrogate, since you never know what will happen in the future.

This document is not about the end of life; that is the Living Will. Imagine you were in a car accident and knocked unconscious. The doctor needs to know if she is authorized to perform a risky surgery. Who do you want making that decision? That is your health care surrogate.

The caring attorneys at Kentucky ElderLaw, PLLC, can help you select a health care surrogate and complete the requisite legal documents. We will walk you through steps so you can rest assured that you have a health care power of attorney in place.

You need to appoint someone as your health care surrogate who will keep a cool head in a medical emergency. If you are appointing a child as your health care surrogate, it need not be the oldest child – just the one best able to function in an emergency situation.

Your health care surrogate does not need to be a child or a relative. They do not even need to reside in Kentucky, although that is helpful. You should ask the person you want to appoint as your health care surrogate if they will agree to be your health care surrogate. Additionally, you should discuss your desires about medical care and treatment with your health care surrogate.

If you have questions or would like to schedule a free consultation with us, please feel free to schedule a consultation at one of our convenient locations. You can reach our Louisville office at 502-581-1111, our Bowling Green office at 270-467-0002 or our Shepherdsville office at 502-955-1005. You can also send our office an email.