If you live in the State of CT, then you need to be aware of a very important change made in October 2016!

For the past thirty plus years, the State of Connecticut had one specific form for both Power of Attorney and Living Will. However, in October 2016, these forms changed! Documents signed before October 2016 will no longer be honored! The most important change in the Power of Attorney is that you can no longer designate someone to make medical decisions for you.

The State of Connecticut has completely changed how you designate someone to make your medical decisions. Now, you must specify a Health Care Agent in a Living Will. Previously, Living Wills covered only terminal medical decisions. Now, they cover both terminal and day-to-day medical decisions. By updating your Living Will, you can designate a Health Care Agent that will be honored, due to the changes made to the Power of Attorney.

It is of the utmost importance to you that these documents are updated in order to meet the State of Connecticut’s current format for designating Health Care Agents. At this time, it would be a good idea to review your full estate plan as well. If you don’t already have a Power of Attorney or Living Will, you should consider creating one. Keep in mind, you will not be able to legally designate a Health Care Agent for day-to-day or terminal medical decisions without one!

If you want to create a Living Will or Power of Attorney, you can contact The Prue Law Group, P.C. at (860) 423-9231 to make an appointment with our team.