Article on Note: Increasing Legal Support for End-of-Life Planning in the United States: How Probate and Family Attorneys Can Contribute to a Culture of Dignified Dying

Sarah E. Ryan recently published an Article entitled, Note: Increasing Legal Support for End-of-Life Planning in the United States: How Probate and Family Attorneys Can Contribute to a Culture of Dignified Dying, 30 Quinnipiac Prob. L.J. 335 (2017). Provided below is an abstract of the Article:

Probate and family practice attorneys possess both the specialized knowledge to move EOL conversations forward and the skills to advocate for their clients.  In The U.S., guardians, like members of the bar have a crucial role to play in the evolution of EOL communication. Unfortunately, the work of family practice and probate attorneys is often removed from healthcare settings. Though some probate attorneys provide emergency bedside service, probate law and family work typically occurs in attorneys’ offices, not in clinics or hospitals. Thus, there is a gulf between the EOL planning that occurs in healthcare settings and in legal practice settings. More generally, there are few attorneys on important national boards or in televised portrayals of family health decision-making. Because lawyers have been absent from certain policymaking forums and cultural representations of EOL care, it is likely that a sizeable segment of the U.S. population is under-informed about how probate and family attorneys can help them achieve more control over their EOL care. Affected patients deserve to know what attorneys can do for them.

Accordingly, this Note explores opportunities for interactions between the U.S. healthcare and legal systems. Drawing upon recent research, this Note suggests that patients can obtain a therapeutic benefit from EOL planning. The Note proceeds in five parts. First, the Note makes a case for the benefits that probate and family attorneys afford to healthy, ill, and dying clients. Second, the Note provides a brief legal history of EOL planning in the U. S. Third, the Note describes theories of pro-social communication and communication systems. Together, these theories suggest that it is possible to circulate healthcare planning information via the healthcare system in order to increase use of EOL planning. Fourth, the Note points to the example of La Crosse, Wisconsin as evidence that a holistic system for EOL planning is possible. Fifth, and finally, the Note provides recommendations for how attorneys can contribute to EOL planning throughout the U. S.