An Enduring Guardianship document is the means by which you appoint the person who you would wish to make lifestyle, health and medical decisions on your behalf if you were to lose the capacity to make these decisions for yourself i.e. your Enduring Guardian.
The types of decisions they can make includes deciding, which doctors you see, which dentists you see, where you live, what services you receive and can include decisions in relation to nursing homes or palliative care.
Your enduring guardian is the person you appoint, whilst you have capacity, in the event you need someone to make these types of decisions for you when you no longer have capacity.
If you don't have an Enduring Guardian appointed, and these types of decisions arise, then typically these decisions could fall to your spouse or carer or to your next of kin, usually in that order, or it may mean that the intervention of the Guardianship Tribunal or the Court is needed.
So what if this isn't what you want, what if the decision they make is different to the preferences you have expressed previously or what if you have more than one next of kin. These types of situations can lead to a lot of heartache and confusion for families at what is typically an extremely vulnerable time.
An Enduring Guardianship document is the means by which you can give your loved ones the peace of knowing exactly what it is that you would want at a time where you may no longer be able to speak for yourself.
Aside from being a formal acknowledgement of who you would want to make decisions for you, and Enduring Guardianship document can also be drafted to include any directives you would have for your Enduring Guardian, including any limits you want to place on them or directions in relation to the type of care you wish to receive.
An Enduring Guardianship documents is one of the key estate planning documents every adult should have.
Contact us now for an obligation free discussion on whether your estate could benefit from having one in place.
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