A relatively young and generally healthy person has been diagnosed with a serious illness, his physical condition has deteriorated rapidly, and he has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Can he insist on staying at home during his last days and avoid spending those days in the hospital? Can he, despite being terminally ill, make decisions that will be implemented when his mental condition also deteriorates? And no less important, is it possible to change a decision not to prolong life if, for example, he is unconscious and then a treatment that was not possible before becomes viable?
In 2005, Israel enacted the "The Terminally Ill Patient Law", which "is intended to regulate the medical care of a terminally ill patient while striking an appropriate balance between the value of the sanctity of life, the value of the autonomy of the person's will, and the importance of quality of life". The law empowers a person to determine in advance which medical procedures he agrees to have performed on his body in the final stages of his life, when he is no longer capable of making decisions. This enable both the respect to the person's will and the prevention of the need for difficult decisions to be made by family members or the need for this to go to Court. However, in many cases people are not prepared for such a situation in advance. For example, in August 2023, the Court in Safed rejected a motion submitted by a hospital to perform an urgent and invasive medical procedure on an anesthetized and ventilated woman despite the objections of her family members. Because the woman had not made a lasting power of attorney or left medical instructions, the family members were forced to move the Court to appoint the husband as a temporary guardian to represent her, contending that her clear desire before the surgery was not to be nursed or ventilated. The solution for such cases is to sign a lasting power of attorney (with the assistance of a lawyer with specific training for this) and therein appoint someone who will be authorized to make decisions in predefined matters, in a situation where the grantor is no longer competent. A lasting power of attorney allows flexibility under the circumstances by providing advance instructions on both property and medical matters, and may prevent a person's last days from turning into a family soap opera.
Contrary to what many think, even a terminally ill person may still have the legal capacity to make decisions and may therefore make a lasting power of attorney and even a will (in which case it is desirable that the will be notarized, to strengthen its validity) and thus anticipate and establish rules for how his life will be managed when he loses his capacity as well as dealing with the arrangement of his property after his demise and prevent family disputes. This is even more important when that person is still active in managing a business and it is important to ensure that the loss of consciousness (temporary or permanent) will not cause the death of the business even before that person passes away.
It is important, when drafting a will or a lasting power of attorney, to be accompanied by a lawyer (and in the case of a will, also a notary) with experience in such situations, who will be able not only to draft documents that are appropriate to the unique needs of this situation, but also to work in cooperation with the medical entity (including in a home hospice situation) to ensure minimal disruption to the person in their condition and to draft the documents in a manner that will not be later invalidated by the Court.