Terry Schiavo’s Potential Legacy

By the time this paper hits the street, Terry Schiavo may already be dead.  I’m not going to debate the decision to remove her feeding tube.  Rather, I am suggesting that, despite the controversy, she could leave a tremendous legacy.

The controversy arises from the fact that her husband Michael claims that she had expressed a desire not to be kept alive should something like this happen.  The problem is that it was a verbal expression.  Despite that, Michael was able to get a court order affirming his authority to make decisions regarding her health care. That hasn’t stopped her parents, the Governor of Florida and even President Bush from trying to undo that authority.

Now that her parents have effectively given up, they are fighting with Michael over her funeral arrangements.

It’d be a lot easier if Terry and Michael had wills and powers of attorney!  If Terry had lived in Ontario and signed a Power of Attorney for Personal Care, naming Michael as her attorney (don’t confuse this term with lawyer), a lot of this would not have happened.  She could have left specific instructions for the attorney that she would not want to be kept alive in the case of serious and permanent injury which results in a vegetative state. 

Further, had she made a will, the person that she appointed as estate trustee would have the power to make the funeral arrangements.

Hopefully, in all the controversy, it will be publicized that proper estate planning might have avoided the whole mess. 

Of course, the cynics out there will be saying that I am just trying to drum up business for lawyers who do estate planning.  Not so, say I!  You need only look at the Schiavo case to see how much more money can be spent on legal fees when there is not an estate plan in place.

Terry Schiavo’s legacy should not be a debate about removing life support.  Her legacy should be a permanent heightened awareness of the need to do an estate plan.  There should be thousands of people making appointments with their lawyers to prepare wills and powers of attorney, leaving specific instructions on whether or not they want life support removed in certain circumstances. 

Ask yourself two questions:

1) Do you know, with certainty, when you are going to die?
2) Do you know if and when you will suffer an injury serious enough that you will be unable to manage your property and health care?

I assume that you answered “No”.  That means you need a will and powers of attorney NOW, not when you eventually get around to it. 

Terry Schiavo was only 26 when she collapsed as a result of a chemical imbalance and her brain was deprived of oxygen, causing her present condition.  It can often be too late to make an estate plan.  It’s never too early.