Britney's Medical and Legal Dramas Continue

Yesterday Britney Spears left the UCLA Medical Center psychiatric ward where she has spent the past week, although she still must rely on her father, Jamie Spears, to make decisions concerning her estimated $40 million estate. Earlier this week the California courts granted him temporary control, called a conservatorship, over the pop-star’s affairs. At the time Spears was under observation at the Stewart & Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital.

In order to institute a conservatorship, a judge must determine a person is unable to take care of themselves or their finances. Hearings to determine if Jamie will retain his authority over his daughter’s world resume next week. For the moment elder Spears is authorized to make his daughter’s medical, financial and legal decisions, including who can visit her.

One banned visitor is Spears’ longtime companion and manager, Sam Lufti whom Spear’s mother Lynne accused, in a successful restraining order request, of drugging her daughter with up to “10 pills a day,” including the anti-psychotic medications Seroquel (AZN) and Risperdal (JNJ). Lynne also claims he cut Britney’s phone lines. Lufti in turn told Usmagazine.com that Britney’s parents, who are divorced, will not run her world for long. “They’re never gonna be able to rule her forever.” he said.

You might not be planning for a trip to the psych ward, but what if an unforeseen health-related emergency, such a stroke, rendered you temporarily incapacitated? Who would make your medical and financial decisions? If a medical catastrophe strikes, you should be armed with a medical directive that will help dictate what course of treatment you agree to undergo. It might be hard to consider now, but deciding whether you want to be sustained on a feeding tube or ventilator could possibly save your loved ones some significant pain and heartache.

According to John Herbers, an estate planning attorney based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, if you don’t want to make such specifications yet, you can name someone as your durable power of attorney for health care, also called a health-care proxy. That individual is then empowered to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event you cannot make them for yourself. Your directive applies to your state of residency, which is why the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization recommends people who travel or split their time between states have multiple directives. Otherwise, if an accident happens while you are traveling, the directive may not be valid “It would certainly offer some insight, but it might not be honored,” says Jon Radulovic of the NHPCO.

Even if your directive is for the correct state, it also must be easily accessible. The AARP estimates that 35 percent of advance directives can’t be found when they’re needed, so once you’ve completed the document give a photocopy to your physician for your patient file. “It wouldn’t hurt to give a copy to close friends, family or clergy to make them aware of your intentions,” adds David Levine, an estate planning attorney based in St. Louis, Missouri. If you designated someone as your power of attorney for healthcare, make sure he or she has a copy as well. An attorney should charge between $100 to $200 to help you with the form. If you don’t want the help of an attorney, you can still complete the directive on your own. Forms for all 50 states are available on the Partnership for Caring website, at www.caringinfo.org.

In addition to a health-care proxy, experts recommend designating someone as your power of attorney to make property, financial and other legal decisions on your behalf. Herbers urges all of his clients to have both a medical directive and a power of attorney, regardless of age. “I’m seeing many young adults have these documents,” he says. “Even young adults still in college.”