{"id":6960,"date":"2026-05-22T13:49:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/?aur_infobereich=power-of-attorney-for-health-care-guardianship-and-living-will"},"modified":"2026-07-06T11:56:27","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T09:56:27","slug":"power-of-attorney-for-health-care-guardianship-and-living-will","status":"publish","type":"aur_infobereich","link":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/en\/?aur_infobereich=power-of-attorney-for-health-care-guardianship-and-living-will","title":{"rendered":"Power of Attorney for Health Care, Guardianship, and Living Will"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advance Directive<\/h2>\n\n<p>It is very helpful for the care situation and<strong> <\/strong>provides additional security in case of an emergency if the person receiving care has a <strong>living will<\/strong>. In a living will, anyone can specify <strong>which medical treatments they wish to receive or refuse.<\/strong> This ensures that, in the event of a serious illness or following an accident, a person\u2019s individual wishes are respected, even if they are no longer able to express them. Advance directives are legally binding even without notarization; therefore, doctors must carry them out when the relevant medical or life situation arises.<\/p>\n\n<p>It&#8217;s certainly not easy to bring up this topic with a family member who doesn&#8217;t yet have a living will. However, a living will essentially ensures, in advance, a <strong>self-determined life<\/strong> for a time when the right to self-determination can no longer be actively exercised. On the other hand, it may, under certain circumstances, spare you and other family members <strong>legal difficulties<\/strong>\u2014but above all, serious <strong>ethical conflicts<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Power of Attorney for Health Care<\/h2>\n\n<p>It generally makes sense to combine a living will with a power of attorney for health care. In a power of attorney for healthcare <strong>,<\/strong> <strong>your family member authorizes a<\/strong> <strong>person they trust to make binding decisions on their behalf if they are no longer able to do so themselves<\/strong>. As a representative, it can sometimes be very difficult for you to have a clear idea of how your family member would decide in a given situation if they were still able to do so themselves. It is therefore advisable to discuss various situations during <strong>conversations<\/strong>. If necessary, your family member can also include matters that are important to him or her in the power of attorney as legally binding instructions. The <strong>scope of authority<\/strong> is <strong>specified individually<\/strong> in each power of attorney for health care.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-secondary-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-secondary-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading has-contrast-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-eca1ff887b372f82bce648bfd36401f8\" style=\"margin-top:25px;margin-bottom:25px\">Note: General Power of Attorney<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"margin-top:0;margin-right:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0\">Since it is easy to overlook something when listing individual aspects, most people choose a <strong>general power of attorney<\/strong> that covers all financial and personal matters. However, it is also possible <strong>to divide the authority to act among <\/strong>several people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-secondary-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-secondary-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>If there is no power of attorney for health care and your family member is no longer able to make decisions on their own, <strong>the local court will appoint a legal guardian<\/strong>. This could be someone from the family, but it could also be a stranger. You don&#8217;t have to go to a notary to draw up a power of attorney for healthcare either. However, the power of attorney for health care should <strong>be notarized or certified <\/strong>if <strong>significant assets, real estate, or business interests <\/strong>are <strong>involved <\/strong>. You should also review the power of attorney from time to time to ensure it remains up to date and have it confirmed by your family member(s) with their signatures and the current date.<\/p>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Advance Directives<\/h2>\n\n<p>In the case of a power of attorney for health care, on the other hand, your family member <strong>simply<\/strong> names <strong>a preferred legal guardian<\/strong>. This person will first undergo a judicial review to determine their suitability before being authorized to make decisions on behalf of your family member. Furthermore, unlike the*guardian for financial affairs*, she is <strong>\u201csupervised\u201d by the court and must render an account<\/strong>. The guardian may only represent your family member in legal matters that the family member is no longer able to handle on their own. The advance care directive should be set forth in writing, but is not subject to any formal requirements. It can be linked to a power of attorney for health care if the individual wishes to specify, in addition to the power of attorney for health care, that the authorized person should also be appointed as a guardian if necessary.<\/p>\n\n<p>The specialists at awo lifebalance are happy to advise and assist you and your family member in drafting <strong>a living will, a power of attorney for healthcare, and a guardianship directive<\/strong>. To do so, please contact the hotline.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group aur-service-pflege has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-secondary-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-secondary-background-color has-background aur-service-pflege is-style-default\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"aur-service-pflege\">Would you like to receive free advice from our experts on care aids and home modifications and discuss your specific needs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons aur-service-pflege is-horizontal is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-03627597 wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aur-service-pflege\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-secondary-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/kontakt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Schedule a consultation<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button aur-service-pflege\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-secondary-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"tel:08002961133\">Call directly for free<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-secondary-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-secondary-background-color has-background\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-secondary-color has-text-color has-link-color has-medium-font-size wp-elements-8afde28c32ad392d1698d4669e9e0a64 is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-3c8805c5 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\">\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading alignwide\">Read more on this topic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-query alignwide is-layout-flow wp-block-query-is-layout-flow\">\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-query-no-results\">\n\n<p>There are currently no related posts.<\/p>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If a person suddenly, due to a serious illness or an accident,<br \/>\ncan no longer make decisions for themselves, spouses, or<br \/>\nChildren are not automatically entitled to do this, or are only entitled to do so to a limited extent. From<br \/>\nFrom a legal standpoint, depending on the situation, this may require either a power of attorney for health care or a<br \/>\nA guardianship order is required. A living will is for medical<br \/>\nDecisions are an important foundation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":[],"tags":[405],"class_list":["post-6960","aur_infobereich","type-aur_infobereich","status-publish","hentry","tag-legal-planning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aur_infobereich\/6960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/aur_infobereich"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/aur_infobereich"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awo-lifebalance.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}