CT CT Legal & Financial Aspects of Death 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What document allows a person to designate someone to make healthcare decisions on their behalf if they become incapacitated?
- Living will
- Durable power of attorney for healthcare (Correct answer)
- Do-not-resuscitate order
- Death certificate
Correct answer: Durable power of attorney for healthcare
A durable power of attorney for healthcare designates a proxy to make medical decisions when the patient cannot speak for themselves.
Question 2: A living will is best described as which type of document?
- A document that distributes financial assets after death
- A legal directive specifying a person's end-of-life medical treatment wishes (Correct answer)
- A beneficiary designation form for life insurance
- A funeral pre-arrangement contract
Correct answer: A legal directive specifying a person's end-of-life medical treatment wishes
A living will outlines a person's specific wishes for medical treatment if they become unable to communicate those wishes directly.
Question 3: Which federal law requires healthcare providers to inform patients of their right to create advance directives?
- HIPAA
- Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) (Correct answer)
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Medicare Modernization Act
Correct answer: Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)
The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990 mandates that healthcare facilities inform patients about their right to create advance directives.
Question 4: A Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) order directs healthcare providers to do what specifically?
- Prevent all medical treatment
- Not perform CPR if the patient's heart or breathing stops (Correct answer)
- Transfer healthcare decisions to a proxy
- Authorize organ donation after death
Correct answer: Not perform CPR if the patient's heart or breathing stops
A DNR order specifically instructs providers not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest.
Question 5: What is the term for the court-supervised legal process for validating a will and distributing a deceased person's estate?
- Testamentary trust
- Probate (Correct answer)
- Intestate succession
- Estate arbitration
Correct answer: Probate
Probate is the legal process by which a deceased person's will is validated and their estate is administered under court supervision.
Question 6: When a person dies without a valid will, they are said to have died in which legal state?
- Testate
- Solvent
- Intestate (Correct answer)
- In probate
Correct answer: Intestate
Dying intestate means dying without a valid will, causing the estate to be distributed according to state intestacy laws rather than personal wishes.
CT CT Legal & Financial Aspects of Death 1
What document allows a person to designate someone to make healthcare decisions on their behalf if they become incapacitated?