What are advance directives?
Advance Directives for Healthcare are documents in which you give instructions about your healthcare if, in the future, you cannot speak for yourself. You can give someone you name (your "agent" or "proxy") the power to make healthcare decisions for you. You also can give instructions about the kind of health care you do or do not want.
In a traditional living will or healthcare directive, you state your wishes about life sustaining medical treatments if you are seriously ill. In a healthcare proxy document (also called a healthcare power of attorney), you appoint someone else to make medical treatment decisions for you if you cannot make them for yourself. The healthcare proxy and living will may be separate documents or may be separate parts of one document. The proxy can be very specific as to what the agent (the person who has the right to act on behalf of another) may approve or refuse, or it can be very general, relying on the agents discretion. In a living will, you may state your preferences about medical care in the event that you are terminally ill or in an irreversible coma or other end-stage condition. A living will may also contain provisions regarding what should be done for pain relief and give directions regarding your comfort.
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Why are advance directives helpful?
If you have not given someone the legal authority to act on your behalf in
connection with medical decisions, then your loved ones will not have direction
as to your wishes. Furthermore, they may need to resort to the courts in order
to obtain the authority to make decisions on your behalf.
Source:
Elder Law Attorneys
(NAELA)
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