What are the “Five D’s”?

A times to re-examine your wishes:
1. Decade – when you start each new decade of your life.
2. Death – whenever you experience the death of a loved one.
3. Divorce – when you experience a divorce or other major family change.
4. Diagnosis – when you are diagnosed with a serious health condition.
5. Decline – when you experience a significant decline or deterioration of an existing health
condition, especially when it diminishes your ability to live independently.

Advance planning for health care is always a work in progress. That’s because circumstances
change, and lives change. One’s values and priorities even change. As a sage remarked,

“The world looks different when you’re horizontal rather than vertical.”

American Bar Assocation Took Kit