End-of-life planning is not a topic most of us are comfortable talking about, much less actually doing anything about. After all, discussing one’s own mortality and decisions that are often made at the end is a stretch for most people.

Yet, we all die and leaving our affairs in the best possible order should be something we prioritize. Put another way, if we don’t do it, someone else will, and under difficult circumstances.

“I honestly believe the best gift you can give to your family is planning,” Marquette County Probate Court Judge Cheryl Hill said Thursday during a presentation she gave titled, “The Importance of Legal Planning as We Age.”

It came during Lake Superior Adult Day Services Art in the Moment reception.

In brief, Hill detailed several options that should be considered including something called an advance directive, which addresses the kind and amount of medical care given to you if you cannot speak for yourself.

And in a Mining Journal story on the issue, Hill talked about physician orders for scope of treatment, or POST, which is a document prepared by a person and their doctor when a person is in a severely life-limiting situation.

“It’s different than that advanced directive I was talking about. It goes into specifics and your doctor is signing it with you, because it’s an order that travels with you,” she said for the Journal story.

For more information on advanced directives in Michigan, go to www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/0,5885,7-339-71547_2943_70663-,00.html. For more information on POST, go to https://polst.org. In addition, a number of very competent elder law attorneys practive in the area.

We sincerely recommend readers take whatever steps are necessary to start this process.