Advance Directives: What Are They?

Advance Directives are documents that you execute before they are actually needed, in which you provide information and/or direction to others about what your decisions would be in certain circumstances if and when you are unable to convey those wishes, due to a medical condition that prevents your communication of your wishes at the time.

Through the use of these executed documents, you are able to set out what your decisions about certain things, including your dying wishes, would be, before, and in case, that certain situation arose. A living will

is an advance directive that allows you to state your wishes regarding whether you would want to be kept alive through the use of artificial means, such as life support, feeding tubes, artificial respiration.

Advance Directives include Powers of Attorney Health Care Proxies , also referred to by other names, such as Medical Surrogate Decision Maker, Health Care Power of Attorney, Designation of Health Care Agent; Designations of Conservator (Guardianship) and, Viatical Donations of your body to science. Each of these documents serves a specific function, many specifically providing direction or naming someone to act for you if you become unable to convey your wishes to others.

These documents must be executed when you are legally able to make decisions for yourself--competent-- so that, if circumstances in the future would prevent you from making certain decisions--if you became incompetent or incapacitated-- your decisions would be known.

Although state statutes do not at this time mention HIPAA, and the recommended state forms do not include a HIPAA release, any Advance Directive that you execute, especially one that appoints another person to act for you in the event of your incapacity, SHOULD contain a HIPAA release.

Click, Advance Directives if you wish to learn more about HIPAA or obtain a HIPAA release.

Know that in most instances, each advance directive serves a very specific and very important function. Sometimes, however, there may be a perceived overlap, such as if you have executed a Durable Power of Attorney, naming one person, and it contains the power to make "Medical Decisions" while you have also appointed someone else as your Health Care Agent.

This is where it becomes essential to understand what your state law says about each of these roles. That way you will be clear as to what authority you are giving to each person named.

States differ in the authority given by each of the documents. In addition, the law of each state may go beyond what is actually written in the state statutes. This is known as the "common" law. It is the body of law that has developed through the courts. The common law impacts the statutory law of your state.

For example, Connecticut recently had a change in its laws that cleared up a popular misconception that may have posed problems to its unwary citizens. Prior to the recent changes, Connecticut had "health care decisions" as part of its statutory power of attorney form, and then had another advance directive called, "health care agent." The agent acting under "health care decisions" was legally empowered to act for rendering of decisions up to but not including life support. Whereas, the health care agent was empowered to make only the end of life decisions (i.e. life support) for the principal. This was very confusing. Connecticut revamped these two directives and has removed "health care decisions" from its statutory power of attorney form, and has created a new position of Health Care Representative that now allows the individual appointed to act under both prior capacities.

For specific information about the laws of your state, click state statutes or contact an attorney. A list of attorneys from each state that are presently members of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys may be accessed by clicking, find an attorney.