CEA CEA Powers of Attorney & Advance Directives 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form differs from a living will in that it:
- Replaces the need for a healthcare proxy in all states
- Is a physician's medical order that is immediately actionable by healthcare providers (Correct answer)
- Can only be used for patients over 65
- Requires court approval to become effective
Correct answer: Is a physician's medical order that is immediately actionable by healthcare providers
A POLST is a physician-signed medical order that emergency responders and healthcare providers must follow immediately, whereas a living will is an instructional document that guides decisions.
Question 2: What document allows a principal to authorize an agent to make decisions about anatomical gifts and organ donation?
- Revocable living trust
- Healthcare power of attorney (Correct answer)
- Durable financial power of attorney
- A testamentary will
Correct answer: Healthcare power of attorney
A healthcare power of attorney can authorize the agent to consent to or decline organ donation on behalf of the principal, consistent with the principal's known wishes.
Question 3: If a person becomes incapacitated without a durable power of attorney in place, a family member who wants to manage their finances must typically:
- Sign documents on their behalf using a verbal agreement
- Petition the court for a conservatorship or guardianship (Correct answer)
- File a POA retroactively with the county clerk
- Use the incapacitated person's notarized signature on file
Correct answer: Petition the court for a conservatorship or guardianship
Without a POA in place before incapacity, a court-supervised conservatorship or guardianship proceeding is required to authorize someone to manage the incapacitated person's financial or personal affairs.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the 'do not resuscitate' (DNR) order in the context of advance directives?
- A legal document that distributes assets after death
- A medical instruction directing that CPR not be performed if the patient's heart stops (Correct answer)
- A living will amendment that modifies end-of-life care preferences
- A court order preventing artificial nutrition and hydration
Correct answer: A medical instruction directing that CPR not be performed if the patient's heart stops
A DNR order is a physician's written instruction specifying that cardiopulmonary resuscitation should not be attempted if the patient experiences cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Question 5: Under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act (UPOAA), which act requires express authorization in the POA document itself?
- Paying routine bills on behalf of the principal
- Making gifts to third parties from the principal's assets (Correct answer)
- Depositing checks into the principal's bank account
- Renewing an existing insurance policy
Correct answer: Making gifts to third parties from the principal's assets
The UPOAA requires that gifting authority, which could reduce the principal's estate, be expressly authorized in the POA document to prevent financial abuse.
Question 6: A CEA advisor discovers that a client's existing healthcare proxy names their now-estranged adult child as agent. The most appropriate immediate recommendation is to:
- File a court petition to invalidate the existing proxy
- Execute a new healthcare proxy naming a preferred agent, which revokes the prior one (Correct answer)
- Contact the former agent to obtain their voluntary resignation
- Leave the document unchanged until the client's health declines
Correct answer: Execute a new healthcare proxy naming a preferred agent, which revokes the prior one
A principal with capacity can revoke a healthcare proxy at any time by executing a new one, which automatically supersedes the prior document and updates the designated agent.
CEA CEA Powers of Attorney & Advance Directives 2
The POLST (Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) form differs from a living will in that it: