Advance directives ensure that your healthcare wishes are known and followed if you become unable to communicate. This checklist will guide you through creating, updating, and sharing your directives so they remain clear, accessible, and legally valid.
Create Your Advance DirectivesUnderstanding the Basics
Advance directives are legal documents that protect your medical choices, so understanding their purpose and legal requirements is the first step in ensuring they are valid and enforceable.
- Understand the purpose of advance directives, including living wills, healthcare proxies, and durable powers of attorney for healthcare. These legal documents ensure your medical choices are honored if you cannot communicate them yourself.
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- Each state has specific laws regarding advance directives, including required forms, witness rules, and notarization. Verify your state’s requirements to ensure your documents are legally valid.
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Choosing the Right People & Communicating Your Wishes
Selecting the right healthcare decision-maker and clearly expressing your medical preferences will help ensure your wishes are carried out in any situation.
- Choose a trusted individual to serve as your healthcare proxy or agent, someone who will make medical decisions on your behalf if needed. Ensure they understand your values and are willing to uphold your wishes.
- Have open conversations with your healthcare proxy, family, and loved ones about your treatment preferences, values, and beliefs. Clear communication prevents confusion and ensures your wishes are followed.
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Completing & Distributing Your Documents
Once your advance directives are completed and legally signed, distributing them to key individuals ensures they are available when needed.
- Determine which Advance Directive form best fits your needs. While you can create one yourself, various types exist, each serving different purposes. You can learn more in our Advance Directives Information Hub.
- Fill out the required advance directive forms, including a living will and healthcare proxy appointment. Follow all state-specific signing, witnessing, and notarization requirements to make them legally binding.
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- Distribute copies of your advance directives to your healthcare proxy, family members, doctors, and legal representatives.
- Keeping multiple copies ensures that the right people can access them in an emergency.
Ensuring Long-Term Accessibility & Updates
Advance directives should be easy to locate and reviewed regularly to reflect any changes in your health, relationships, or state laws.
- Store your advance directives in locations that are both secure and easily accessible in an emergency. Consider keeping copies with your doctor, in your glove compartment, or using a wallet card service like MIDEO to ensure first responders and healthcare providers can quickly find them. Inform your healthcare proxy and loved ones where they are stored. Remember, if your advance directives are not readily available, it is as if they do not exist.
- Life circumstances and medical preferences change over time. Review your advance directives annually and update them after major life events such as marriage, divorce, diagnosis of an illness, or moving to a new state.
Expanding Your Planning
Beyond standard medical directives, additional considerations such as mental health treatment and financial planning can provide more comprehensive protection.
- If applicable, include mental health treatment preferences in your advance directives. This can specify preferred treatments, medications, and facilities in case of a psychiatric crisis.
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- Ensure that your financial power of attorney, if it exists, aligns with your advance directives so medical decisions can be funded appropriately.
- Review healthcare-related costs, insurance coverage, and payment plans for long-term care.
