It’s never easy to think about a day when you might not be able to speak for yourself. But life has a way of catching us off guard, and planning ahead is the only real way to make sure your wishes are known and respected. Here at Raimondo & Sundquist LLP, our Buffalo estate lawyers can help you take control of your medical decisions before a crisis ever occurs via an advance healthcare directive. Contact our legal team today so we can get started.
What is an Advance Healthcare Directive?
An advance healthcare directive is a written document that gives you a voice even when you can’t physically speak. In the simplest terms, it lets you plan your medical care for the future by saying what treatments you want, or don’t want, and by naming someone to make healthcare decisions for you if you’re unable to do so yourself.
Essentially, it’s a form of protection. You’re protecting yourself, your family, and your peace of mind. If a sudden illness, accident, or medical emergency leaves you unable to communicate, doctors and family members won’t be left guessing what you’d want. They’ll already know, because you took the time to write it down.
Importantly, advance directives become active only if you lose the ability to make your own medical decisions. Until that point, your wishes remain just that: yours. You stay in full control of your care.
Types of Advance Healthcare Directives
There are a few different types of advance healthcare directives, with each serving a slightly different purpose. Many people use more than one, just to make sure all their bases are covered. That said, the most common types of advance healthcare directives are as follows:
- Health Care Proxy: This document lets you name a trusted person, called your healthcare agent, to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to. It can cover everything from surgery decisions to life-sustaining treatments. It only takes effect once a doctor determines that you’re no longer able to make your own choices.
- Living Will: A living will is a written statement outlining your wishes about medical care if you can’t communicate. It’s most often used for end-of-life decisions, such as whether you’d want to be kept alive by machines, receive artificial nutrition or hydration, or undergo other life-sustaining treatments.
- Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order: A DNR order tells medical staff not to perform CPR if your heart stops beating or you stop breathing. You can have one in a hospital, nursing home, or even outside a medical setting through a non-hospital DNR form.
- Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST): A MOLST form is a more detailed set of instructions about specific medical treatments, created with your doctor. It’s typically used for people with serious health conditions or those approaching the end of life, covering things like intubation, artificial feeding, or hospitalization preferences.
Legal Requirements for an Advance Healthcare Directive
To make sure your advance directive is valid and enforceable in New York, you must meet the following requirements:
- Eligibility: You must be at least 18 years old and mentally competent when you create your directive.
- Witnessing and Signing: A health care proxy has to be signed in front of two adult witnesses, and those witnesses must also sign the document. Your healthcare agent can’t be one of them. A living will doesn’t have an official witness rule, but it’s strongly recommended that two people witness it anyway.
- Doctor’s Determination: For your health care proxy to take effect, a doctor must determine that you’ve lost the ability to make medical decisions on your own.
- Filing and Distribution: There’s no central office to file your documents, but copies should go to your healthcare agent, your doctor, and your close family members. Keep one for yourself and one with your attorney.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Even with the best intentions, people sometimes make errors that create confusion later on. Some of the most important things to watch out for are as follows:
- Not naming an alternate agent: Always have a backup, just in case your first choice can’t serve.
- Never discussing your wishes: If your family doesn’t know what’s in your directive, they may not follow it properly.
- Using outdated or incomplete forms: Laws change, and an old form could create problems when you need it most.
- Keeping it a secret: If no one knows where your document is, it might as well not exist.
- Assuming your will covers it: A Last Will and Testament only takes effect after death; it doesn’t control medical decisions while you’re alive.
Contact Our Advance Healthcare Directive Lawyers Today
The truth is, no one wants to imagine being unable to make their own choices, but the reality is, it happens every single day to people who never expected it. Setting up an advance healthcare directive with our team of seasoned estate planning lawyers can help you get the peace of mind you deserve. Contact Raimondo & Sundquist LLP to set up an initial consultation today.
