What Legal Actions to Take as an Adult With a Life-Limiting Illness?

There’s hardly anything as heartbreaking as a diagnosis of a life-limiting illness. Such an event can be quite painful for the individual and his/her loved ones. Medical conditions such as cancer, AIDS, and advanced dementia progressively deteriorate an individual’s health and reduce lifespan. Besides the heartbreak and anxiety it creates, such a life-altering event also calls for some legal action that needs to be taken.

Making a Medical Power of Attorney

With an expected decline in your health, it is advisable to seriously consider matters concerning your healthcare. The best course of action in such a scenario would be to create a medical power of attorney in the UAE. Also known as a healthcare power of attorney, this legal document will allow you to authorize an individual to make decisions related to your medical care. These could include decisions involving treatment alternatives, medication, dietary requirements, medical procedures, end-of-life care, etc. Additionally, the agent can also choose your healthcare provider, doctors, and staff to assist you with day-to-day activities. 

A medical POA in the UAE can be durable. This means that it will be valid even when you are no longer able to communicate instructions and wishes related to your healthcare. However, it is necessary to explicitly state that your UAE power of attorney will be durable. In fact, if you wish you can prepare a POA that will only take effect when you are incapacitated. 

Choosing an Agent for a Medical POA

As you are about to trust someone with a responsibility as important as your healthcare, it is highly important to put some serious thought into choosing the agent for your medical power of attorney. Considering the possibility that you may be bedridden or may not be able to speak for yourself, it is necessary to assume that your agent will be entrusted with almost every decision associated with your medical care.

This is why you must take into account the character of the person, the experience he/she possesses in such matters, and most importantly the relationship you share with the person. The individual you choose must be someone you expect to make choices similar to what you would have made yourself. You can also consider appointing more than one agent to accommodate for scenarios when the primary agent is unavailable.

Expressing Your Preferences through a Medical POA

You can state your healthcare preferences within the medical power of attorney to assist the agent with the decision-making in the future. You are free to include certain limitations to the agent’s powers as well as detailed instructions concerning specific treatments or the overall healthcare.

Making a UAE Will

While a POA remains valid while you are alive, a Will takes effect only after you pass away. And, while a POA protects your best interests while you are alive, a Will does the same after you pass away. As a life-limiting illness puts your lifespan into uncertainty, making a Will becomes highly important to ensure that your hard-earned wealth is easily inherited by your loved ones. A Will in the UAE allows you to put forth your wishes regarding the distribution of your wealth. You can state the beneficiaries and the assets they stand to inherit. Writing a Will also considerably reduces the possibility of a dispute within your family. 

Though none of us can accurately predict the aftermath of a life-limiting illness diagnosis, legal documents like a medical POA and a Will ensure that you are prepared for the worst-case scenarios. Legal Inz is a leading law firm in the UAE and can comprehensively assist you with the preparation of Wills and powers of attorney.