What Happens If My Spouse Becomes Sick or Incapacitated?

This is a question that most people hope to never have to know the answer to, but it's part of what we do to help families prepare, so they are not scrambling during a difficult and often chaotic time in their life.

Often, people think that being married allows them total control and access to making medical and financial decisions for their spouse, unfortunately, that is not always the case. We have been hearing more and more stories from families in the Portland area that they could not automatically make medical decisions for their spouse and in some cases, could not get information from the doctors directly until their spouse was able to sign a HIPAA form giving them the legal authority to do so. We have also heard of spouses being denied access to bank accounts and investments that are solely in their partner's name. This is why it's important to do estate planning before the unimaginable happens.

If your spouse is suddenly sick or incapacitated, you will need to be able to provide the following documents:

1. Medical Power of Attorney
This allows your partner to authorize you to make medical decisions if they are unable to make those decisions themselves.

2. HIPAA Authorization
This allows healthcare providers to share medical information with you.
Without it, doctors may not be able to discuss important medical information with any relatives even in emergency situations.

3. Financial Power of Attorney
This allows someone you to help handle financial matters if needed. The last thing you want is for your spouse to be hospitalized and for you to be unable to talk to their insurance or pay their car payment or get into their bank accounts to make sure that life continues while they heal.

4. Advance Directive
This allows your partner to communicate their wishes about certain medical decisions in advance. This is important when having to make some of the most difficult medical decisions a spouse can imagine. By having your their wishes written down, you can know that you are making the decisions that they want.


Having these in advance means you can likely avoid petitioning the hospital board or filing a conservatorship with the court in order to take over control of any of your spouses medical or financial needs while they are unable to handle things on their own.

Reach out for a free consultation to find out what services you may need and the flat rate price for us to help you with them. Schedule a free consultation here or call 503-908-5457 or email Chad@AffordableEstatePNW.com