BIRD TALK

Dear Bird Talk,
My husband and I have completed Representation Agreements in lieu of Advance Directives. We plan to register these with Nidus. What steps can we take to ensure that our representative is involved when we are out of province and, particularly, in the U.S.? Do Medipac and other carriers typically check NIDUS? If we feel strongly about DNR, for example, should we prepare an Advance Directive under the laws of the state where we spend the most time as a backup?
Burnaby, BC

Response:
Ed.: British Columbia is way ahead of the rest of the world in dealing with elder issues and, in particular, they have passed the Representation Agreement Act which inspired Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. NIDUS is a charitable institution which provides a registry for a Representation Agreement, Enduring/Power of Attorney, Advance Directive, Notice of Revocation, Notice of Resignation (for a registered RA or E/PoA), Advance Care Plan, Living Will and/or the Nomination of Committee. The original founding groups for NIDUS were the Alzheimer Society of BC, BC Association for Community Living, BC Coalition of People with Disabilities, Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations, Family Link, and Network of Burnaby Seniors. I recommend that you have a look at NIDUS.ca, as they have valuable information available.
To answer your questions, as yet, no travel insurer would check with the NIDUS Registry to review your wishes. I would personally carry copies of your Directives with you when you travel and have your travel insurer put a note on your file that can be found on NIDUS. If you travel to one U.S. state regularly, then I would definitely get a lawyer to draw up another Directive specifically for that state. This would not be a backup, as any U.S. hospital or medical facility might only recognize the U.S. one. Everyone needs these critical documents!