Advanced Directives In Estate Planning

What Is an Advanced Directive?

An advanced directive outlines your preferences for medical care in the event that you’re unable to communicate them yourself. Medical directives usually come into play due to illness, incapacitation, or medical illness. 

Advanced directives typically include a living will and durable power of attorney for healthcare. A medical power of attorney includes information about your healthcare provider and medical records and selects someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf. 

Living Will

A living will is a document that outlines your wishes for medical treatment in the event that you’re unable to communicate your wishes. Living wills outline to what extent you might want to receive life-sustaining treatment or the type of end-of-life care you’d prefer.

Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare

A durable power of attorney for healthcare names your healthcare proxy, the person you’re selecting to make medical decisions for you. You can choose a proxy in addition to or in place of a living will.

Selecting a durable power of attorney helps you prepare for situations that are unexpected. They can make decisions in situations where you haven’t clearly outlined your wishes.

Who Needs Advanced Directives?

Anyone can end up in a medical situation where they are unable to communicate their wishes. Having an advanced directive in place is a good way to be as prepared as possible for unexpected events. While medical directives are often considered later in life as we age, they can be especially important when you’re younger in case of the unexpected.

Planning now for the future can help you make sure that you get the medical care you want and that you have someone you trust making medical decisions for you.

What Happens If You Don’t Have an Advanced Directive?

If you’re in need of someone to make medical decisions for you and don’t have a medical directive in place, state laws may determine who will make medical decisions on your behalf. In Mississippi, the decision is based on the priority of relatives:

1. 
   Spouse
2. Adult Child
3. Parent
4. Adult Sibling

If no one meeting these criteria is available, someone else may be able to act as a surrogate. If there are multiple people of one member class present who disagree on medical treatment, the majority decision should be followed.

Having an advance directive can help resolve family conflicts, especially if your family members disagree on major healthcare issues in the future.

Advanced directives are a vital part of planning for the future. It’s important to have this in place to make sure that your wishes for medical care are followed, even if you’re unable to make medical decisions.

Advanced directives can be emotional and difficult to create. An estate planning attorney can help make the process of creating an advanced directive easier for you.

Jason Campbell is an experienced estate planning attorney, dedicated to helping people prepare for their future. Contact Campbell today to learn more about how we may be able to help you.