No time like the present: End-of-life plans and the pandemic

Coronavirus has more people addressing their end-of-life planning. And for those who haven't, it’s a great time to take it on.

People are traditionally rather hesitant to take the steps that experts suggest — creating an advance directive, writing a will and more — in part because they don’t want to ponder their own mortality. But the coronavirus pandemic has sharpened awareness and focused concern on this front. Several estate attorneys, online legal service providers and life insurers say they’ve seen an uptick in interest since the coronavirus hit.

Consider the advice of Jenni Neahring, a kidney specialist and palliative care doctor at St. Charles Hospital in Bend, Oregon who works daily with patients with chronic and serious illnesses. She says it’s better to make these decisions before an emergency to avoid putting extra stress and urgency on loved ones if something should happen.

If a patient is unconscious, health care professionals must spend critical time hunting down relatives or friends to help determine their preferred next steps.

Things have gotten harder with COVID-19, Neahring said, as no one is allowed in the hospitals with these patients and those on ventilators cannot speak for themselves.

“It has brought into sharp relief how necessary these conversations are and how much worse it is to have to do them at the end,” she said.

Here are a few things you can do now to help you and your loved ones later:

POINT PEOPLE

Start with picking your point people: who will make medical decisions for you if you cannot speak for yourself? This person is known as the health care proxy. They will be named in a legal document known as the durable power of attorney for health care.

Then choose someone who can oversee your financial affairs, such as...