Your Right To Make Your Own Decisions
by: BEGINNING JULY 1, 2005, ALL LIVING WILL, DURABLE POWERS OF ATTORNEY (DPOA) AND ORGAN DONATION DESIGNATION FORMS WILL BE REPLACED BY THE WYOMING ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE FORM.
IF YOU EXECUTED THESE DOCUMENTS BEFORE JULY 1, 2005, THEY ARE STILL VALID.BUT, TO AVOID COMPLICATIONS IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT YOU CONSIDER REPLACING THEM WITH THE WYOMING ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE FORM.
REMEMBER: IF YOU CHOOSE TO REPLACE A LIVING WILL, DPOA OR ORGAN DONATION DESIGNATION DOCUMENT WITH THE WYOMING ADVANCE HEALTH CARE DIRECTIVE, PLEASE DESTROY THE OUT DATED MATERIAL TO AVOID CONFUSION.
What To Do When Your Sick or Facing Death
Your Right to Know
When it comes to your health care you have the right to choose to:
• Have a living will (also called Part 2 of the Wyoming Advance Health Care Directive). This lets you refuse life support.
• Appoint somebody to make health care choices for you if you can't do it yourself.This is done through a durable power of attorney or DPOA (also called Part 1 of the Wyoming Advance Health Care Directive).
• Let doctors know what to do if your heart or breathing stops.
• Refuse CPR or any treatment.
• Let doctors know what type of health care you want or don't want.
If you are on Medicaid or Medicare, your doctors must help you.Hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices and HMOsmust give you facts on your health care rights. This is to help you make choices about what care you want or don't want.
If you are on Medicaid or Medicare, your doctors must ask if you have signed a living will, a DPOA, a Wyoming Advance Health Care Directive or a CPR Form.If you have, a copy of each will be placed in your file.
The things you say in these forms will only be used if you are too sick to make your choices known.
Special note: Doctors do not have to give any forms to you. If they want, they can give you forms, but they don't have to.They only have to tell you facts that may help you make choices.You may need to consult this Website or a lawyer for the right forms.
Everybody's problems are unique. This website cannot tell you how your case will be decided.
This website can be used to help you learn the law. It can help you understand your rights. It can assist you in getting the help you need.
If you need more help than this website can give on your specific problem, you should contact a lawyer. If you are low-income and wish to apply for an attorney through Legal Aid of Wyoming, please click here.
Whether you are low-income or not, if you have questions about your case or are uncertain in any way, it is a good idea to talk to a lawyer before taking legal action.
Hiring a Lawyer.
Hiring a lawyer is a big decision.
Before hiring a lawyer, you should ask a lot of questions.
Hire a lawyer you feel you can trust.
This website gives information on what to look for in a lawyer. This web site is not advertising for any particular lawyer.
E-mail.
Using this website or sending an e-mail to Wyoming LawHelp does not mean that Wyoming LawHelp is your lawyer.
Deadlines
If you are handling your own case or do not yet have a lawyer, it is very important that you not miss deadlines! You may lose your legal rights if you do not take action right away.
This means getting a lawyer right away if that is what you want.
Getting It Right
Wyoming LawHelp is offered as public service. We try to make the information correct as of the date of the materials.
Sometimes the laws change. We cannot promise that this information is always up-to-date and correct, but we are doing our best to give you the best information we can.
Links
Sometimes we link to legal information given by other websites.
We cannot say with absolute certainty that these other links have gotten in right.
We do not sponsor these other links or use any trade name, trademark, logo, legal or official seal used at these links.
The WyomingLawHelp.org is a project of Legal Aid of Wyoming, Wyoming Access to Justice Commission, the Wyoming Center for Legal Aid, Wyoming State Bar, Wyoming State Bar Foundation and the University of Wyoming College of Law.
