These two documents get grouped together often. Both name someone to act for you if you cannot act for yourself. Both are essential parts of a solo senior’s planning. But they cover entirely separate territory, and having one without the other leaves half the picture unprotected.
What a Health Care Proxy Covers
A Health Care Proxy names an agent to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make them yourself. It activates when a physician determines you lack the capacity to make your own health care decisions, and it covers things like consenting to treatment, choosing physicians and facilities, and deciding on the level of care you receive. We have covered this document in detail earlier in this series.
What a Durable Power of Attorney Covers
A Durable Power of Attorney names an agent, often called an attorney-in-fact, to manage your financial and legal affairs. This is a separate authority from anything in a Health Care Proxy, and it covers a different set of needs entirely: paying your bills, managing bank accounts, handling investments, filing taxes, dealing with insurance companies, and signing legal documents on your behalf.
The word “durable” matters here. A standard power of attorney ends if you become incapacitated, which defeats the purpose for planning purposes. A durable power of attorney is specifically written to remain in effect even after incapacity, which is exactly when you need someone with this authority the most.
Why One Without the Other Leaves a Gap
Consider a solo senior who has a Health Care Proxy but no Durable Power of Attorney. If they have a stroke, their named health care agent can consent to treatment and make decisions about their care. But that agent has no authority to pay the mortgage, access bank accounts to cover expenses, or manage investments. Bills can go unpaid, accounts can become inaccessible, and without a document in place, the only path forward is a court-appointed conservatorship, the financial equivalent of the guardianship process we covered earlier in this series, with all the same delays and loss of control.
The reverse gap matters too. A Durable Power of Attorney gives someone authority over finances, but many financial institutions and some health care providers will not treat a financial agent as authorized to make medical decisions, because that authority was never granted. Without a separate Health Care Proxy, medical decisions can still default to a court-appointed guardian even though someone is already handling the finances.
They Do Not Have to Be the Same Person
You can name the same person as both your health care agent and your financial agent, and many people do, especially when there is one clearly trusted individual in their life. But you do not have to. Some solo seniors choose one person who is well suited to medical advocacy, comfortable talking with doctors and making judgment calls under pressure, and a different person who is more detail-oriented and organized for the financial role. Both approaches work. What matters is that both roles are filled by someone you trust, not that they are filled by the same person.
Put Both in Place Together
Because these documents cover different territory and activate under similar circumstances, incapacity, they are generally drafted and signed together as part of a complete plan. Neither one is optional if your goal is to avoid a court process. A Health Care Proxy without a Durable Power of Attorney protects your medical decisions but leaves your finances exposed. A Durable Power of Attorney without a Health Care Proxy protects your finances but leaves your medical care in the hands of whoever the court assigns.
Our next post in this series looks at what happens to practical, everyday matters, your home, your mail, your pets, if you are suddenly hospitalized with no plan in place.
If you are in the Greater Boston area and want help putting both of these documents in place, Senior Solutions Attorneys at Law works with solo seniors on exactly this kind of planning. If you are outside our service area, the NAELA directory can help you find an elder law attorney near you.