End-of-Life Planning

Getting Your Affairs in Order

A very good place to start end-of-life planning is checking out the Getting Your Affairs in Order Checklist from the National Institute on Aging.

Similarly, Death with Dignity, a nonprofit organization, makes The Life File which is a guide to end-of-life planning. By sharing your email, Death with Dignity will send you a checklist.

AARP has an affordable book that leads you step-by-step through organizing the information your family will need when and if you are unable to do it yourself or if you’ve passed away. Developed with the American Bar Association, Checklist for My Family: A Guide to My History, Financial Plans, and Final Wishes, Second Edition is available online from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and elsewhere.

Fairfax County offers two ways of making sure emergency responders to your home know about you.

  • You can go online today and create an Emergency Health Profile that will assist emergency responders. This free emergency profile will ask for your critical health and medical information that can be shared with first responders during an emergency or crisis event when it matters most. Creating a profile is easy and takes only a few minutes.

  • You can also fill out and print a Fire & Rescue form that you store close to your home’s entrance just in case. This includes information such as physician name, emergency contact information, medication, recent medical procedures, etc.

Advance Directives

It’s important to plan for a time when you may not be able to make decisions about your health care. A good place to start is to use a tool such as an Advance Planning Guide to ensure those who care about you know your wishes. Advance directives give family and providers the information they need to assess your wishes about things like a do-not-resuscitate order or the kinds of medical treatment you want if you unable to relay this information to someone.

  • An Advance Directive is a written statement detailing your desires regarding medical treatment if you are no longer able to express informed consent.

  • A Durable power of attorney for Health Care is a document that lets you name someone else to make health care decisions if can’t do it yourself. That person is called an agent and this may also be combined with an advance directive.

  • A Do Not Resuscitate Order is a request by you not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation if your heart stops or if you stop breathing.

To help you navigate advance directives and find form templates, visit Virginia Advance Directives.org or contact them directly at (804) 622-8141.