I want to address end-of-life issues, including healthcare and funeral arrangements. What do I do?

You can inform others of your wishes for healthcare and funeral arrangements through a document called a "medical directive" (sometimes called a living will). The medical directive states your wishes concerning life-prolonging measures, mental health treatment, and other health care decisions. It also covers organ donation and funeral arrangements.

The medical directive is often bundled together with a document called a "durable power of attorney for health care," which allows you to appoint someone you trust to make health care decisions for you if you become unable to do so. Together, these two documents are called an "advance health care directive."

Every state has its own legal requirements for advance health care directives, especially around disclosure guidelines (to ensure the principal understands what he or she is signing) and whether the documents must be witnessed, notarized, or both. Because of the differences between state requirements, an advance health care directive may not be valid from one state to the next, which can be a problem for those of us who travel outside our home state. But you can make sure that your advance health care directive will be valid anywhere you go in the US by working with a competent attorney and telling him or her what you need.

For help finding an LGBT-friendly attorney to assist you with advance health care directives or other elder law issues, you can always contact the National Center for Lesbian Rights' Legal Information Helpline, at info@nclrights.org.

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