Living will and healthcare proxy

This week I received a call from one of the leaders of a Filipino community here in New York soliciting my advice on how to better assist one of her members. She relayed to me a story about a young married mother of five who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and was scheduled for an emergency surgery. The problem is that the woman has been estranged from her husband for quite some time now. Though living separately and having families of their own, they are still married by law as no divorce or legal separation was decreed.

As the day of her elective surgery draws closer, we found out that she neither has a will, nor has she appointed someone to decide for her when she becomes physically and mentally incapacitated.

This is where our topic for today comes in. Situations like these call for the need of what we have here in the United States as “living will” and “healthcare proxy.” A living will is an advance directive that specifies the kinds of treatments you would or would not want in case of your incapacity to communicate. These medical treatments may include drug therapies, palliative and hospice care, resuscitation, artificial nutrition, and mechanical ventilation. A healthcare proxy is a legal document that appoints someone to make medical decisions for you in cases when you are too incapacitated to decide for yourself. Take note that the proxy could be “someone” not necessarily your next of kin, immediate family members, or relatives. It could be a friend, a priest, or an attorney or a co-worker - anyone who you can fully trust to act on your behalf and carry your directives. Unlike in the Philippines where we usually defer to the opinion of the patient’s family to the point that it creates stress, tension, and guilt among its members, here in the US the presence of a healthcare proxy eliminates that. The decision is already left to one trusted person that the patient has selected in advance.

In the case of our Filipina patient mentioned here, it was a good thing that her procedure was delayed for a day. She was able to execute her living will and healthcare proxy designating her close friend. It would have been a messy legal situation if she did not do so as her estranged husband could possibly enter the scene with his own vested interests.

I believe everyone - immigrant or not, should have these two documents already prepared and signed even in the absence of imminent medical disability. Make sure to check your local laws as each state has its own rules on executing a living will and healthcare proxy and its legal implications. It would also be wise to have a will executed where all your orders, not just medical related, are carried out posthumously. This could be an interesting topic in our future columns.

This column is not a substitute for professional legal advice obtained from a US-licensed immigration attorney. The information contained herein does not constitute a warranty or guarantee or legal advice regarding a reader’s specific immigration case. No attorney-client relationship is and shall be established with any reader.

For any questions, comments and observations, please contact Atty. Marco Tomakin at [email protected]