The Taormina Firm serves those who do not already have powers of attorney or health care directives with our Protection Plan. This plan provides clients with essential documents that are personal to them and that help others make financial, personal, and medical decisions for them.

Health Care Directive

There can be dignity in dying. A Health Care Directive allows you to express your end-of-life care and desires so that your loved ones and healthcare professionals know how best to care for you if you cannot express those desires for yourself. Health Care Directives also relieve your family members from the burden and stress of determining what they believe to be your last wishes regarding your end-of-life care.

Missouri allows its residents to create Health Care Directives to express a clear and unequivocal course of treatment at the end of their lives. In accordance with Missouri Revised Statute ("RSMo.") § 459.025, these Health Care Directives only become operative if the Declarant's condition is terminal and if said Declarant cannot make treatment decisions for themselves.

In either of those two cases, the declarant can direct health care providers and family members to withdraw or withhold any number of medical treatments, including, but not limited to:

1. Cardiac resuscitation
2. Medical respiration
3. Medical respiration
4. Medical respiration
5. Other invasive medical procedures

Health Care Directives are an essential component of every estate plan crafted personally for you by The Taormina Firm. They take the burden off of your loved ones in deciding the course of your end-of-life treatment and expressly state how you wish to die in a dignified manner.

Powers of Attorney

In your everyday life, only you have the power to act on your own behalf. Situations can arise, however, where it would be more beneficial for someone else to act for you. In the event of incapacity or other severe circumstances, decisions must be made regarding your finances or health; but, if you do not have the capacity or ability to make such decisions, there could be troubling ramifications for not being able to do so. To prevent headache and confusion in the event of your incapacity, it is important to create a "Power of Attorney."

A Power of Attorney is a document wherein you (the "principal") give someone else (the "attorney-in-fact") the authority to act for you. As the principal, you can determine when your Power of Attorney takes effect. You may wish for your attorney-in-fact to start acting immediately, or you may only wish for your attorney-in-fact to act for you should you become incapacitated or unable to act for yourself. The latter of these two options is known as a "springing Power of Attorney," because the Power of Attorney only "springs" into effect in the event of your incapacity.

There are two main types of Powers of Attorney which are essential to any effective estate plan: (1) a Durable Health Care Power of Attorney, and (2) a Durable General Power of Attorney.

A Durable Health Care Power of Attorney allows your attorney-in-fact to make medical and healthcare decisions for you when you cannot make those decisions for yourself. Your attorney-in-fact will be allowed to hire and fire medical professionals, gain access to your medical records, and enforce any Health Care Directive that you may create. If you are an organ donor, your Durable Health Care Power of Attorney may also include a provision expressly stating that as your desire.

In contrast, a Durable General Power of Attorney allows your attorney-in-fact to make financial and other personal decisions for you. Your attorney-in-fact may be allowed to open bank accounts in your name, pay your taxes, or make loan payments. Your attorney-in-fact may also be able to choose a different place of residence for you and even pay for the costs of your pets.