Our experienced business advice lawyers can help you choose the best structure for your business both now and in the future.
What is a Medical Treatment Decision Maker?
A Medical Treatment Decision Maker is a person that you have appointed to make medical decisions on your behalf when you’re not able to. They will be able to make life or death decisions, from what treatments doctors can do to whether to keep you on life support. Think of it like your medical power of attorney, although they can’t make any decisions about your estate. They should also take into account any wishes that you’ve outlined in your Advance Care Directive.
In Victoria, there is a specific document that must be completed to appoint a Medical Treatment Decision Maker. While you can do this yourself, it’s recommended that you speak to both a medical practitioner and a lawyer first, to make sure that you understand your options and what it involves. Our estate lawyers are located in Melbourne and Ballarat and can explain how to appoint your Medical Treatment Decision Maker and what the process involves.
What is an Advance Care Directive?
An Advance Care Directive outlines what your wishes are when it comes to your medical treatment. This can include a wide range of things from whether you want to be put on a ventilator to whether you’d like to receive palliative care at home or in a hospital.
This document is both an instructional directive of your medical wishes and a values directive that outlines what you believe and how that should translate into your medical care. For example, you can outline what quality of life you’re happy with or what religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs need to be taken into account when making decisions about your care.
An Advance Care Directive is like a special power of attorney. It differs from a normal POA because it doesn’t outline your wishes about your finances or property, it focuses solely on how you want to be cared for when you’re ill or incapacitated.
There are many important things to consider when writing your Advance Care Directive. Our lawyers are based in Melbourne and Ballarat and will take the time to explain what you need to consider when drafting your document.
Key considerations when appointing a Medical Treatment Decision Maker
A Medical Treatment Decision Maker is a very important and serious job. While they won’t be able to make decisions about your estate unless they also have power of attorney, their decisions will be about your medical treatment and healthcare. There are several things you should consider when choosing who want to appoint. These include:
- Do you trust this person to make life and death decisions about you?
- How well do they know you and your values?
- Do you believe they will respect your wishes as outlined in your Advance Care Directive?
- Do they have a vested interest in your estate or financial matters that may cloud their judgement?
- Will they be able to make difficult decisions about your medical treatment?
- Will they be available to make decisions when they need to?
How to appoint a Medical Treatment Decision Maker
Appointing a Medical Treatment Decision Maker is a legal process and there are specific steps that must be followed:
- You must be over 18 years of age, be of sound mind and able to make this decision;
- You can appoint up to two Medical Treatment Decision Makers;
- The Victorian Appointment of Medical Treatment Decision Maker form must be completed. Our lawyers are located in both Melbourne and Ballarat and can prepare this for you to make sure your wishes are expressed;
- The form must be witnessed. At least one of the witnesses must be someone who is qualified like a lawyer or your medical practitioner; and
- You should keep the signed form in a safe place where it can be accessed easily if it needs to be. You can also keep a copy of the form with your medical practitioner and your lawyer if you’d like.
When making both an Advance Care Directive and appointing a Medical Treatment Decision Maker, our lawyers in Melbourne and Ballarat can give you advice to make sure it’s legal and respects your wishes.
How MNG Lawyers can help
No one likes to think about getting ill, but a little bit of preparation can give you peace of mind and help your loved ones honour your wishes. At MNG Lawyers, we can explain your options and help you prepare your Advance Care Directive and appoint a Medical Treatment Decision Maker. We understand how stressful and emotional it can be to make these decisions and take the time to listen to you and make the process as smooth as possible. For a confidential, obligation-free consultation, get in touch with our lawyers in Melbourne and Ballarat today.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can change your business structure if you find it no longer meets your needs. Depending on the complexity of your business and the structure you have and want to change to, changing how it’s structured can be relatively simple or may be quite costly.
While it’s not always essential that you have an agreement, for some business structures we recommend that you do have an agreement. For example, a partnership agreement would set out the rights and responsibilities of the partners. Similarly, a shareholders agreement sets out the obligations and rights of shareholders in a company. If you’re establishing a trust, you will need a trust deed to be drawn up.
Some business structures do require specific legal registrations. For example, a sole trader doesn’t have to register their business but a company must be registered with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). Regardless, if you have a business name that you use publicly it may be worthwhile registering your business name.