Beyond Medical Care: Personal Benefits of Advance Directives

Takeaways

• Advance directives, including health care powers of attorney and living wills, are crucial for outlining your medical wishes and appointing a surrogate decision-maker.
• Creating these documents involves personal reflection on quality of life, end-of-life preferences, and whom you trust most to make decisions on your behalf.
• Sharing and discussing your advance directives with loved ones can prevent conflict and ensure your wishes are respected. At the same time, these legal documents are a way for you to express your autonomy and take control of how you want to live, especially if you ever become unable to communicate your needs.
• Consulting an estate planning attorney is recommended to ensure that your documents are legally sound and aligned with your personal values and beliefs.

As National Healthcare Decisions Day falls this week, it is a good time to think about creating or reviewing advance directives, including a power of attorney for health care and a living will. More than essential legal tools, these documents can help you shape the life you want to lead as you age. The planning and thought involved in making and maintaining advance directives can give you a sense of autonomy and peace as you navigate long-term care, manage chronic conditions, and coordinate your care with your loved ones.

Powers of Attorney and Living Wills

Advance directives include durable powers of attorney and living wills. A health care power of attorney allows you to appoint a surrogate decision-maker to oversee your care if you become unable to make your own decisions. Your medical power of attorney directs this person to act on your behalf and outlines the kind of actions you would like them to take.

While appointing a surrogate decision-maker is a central feature of a power of attorney, the document can also detail your wishes for medical interventions and burial or cremation. You may include details specific to your unique situation.

A living will states your preferences for medical treatment and life-sustaining interventions. Typically, living wills express a general preference for less intervention. However, a more personalized living will could convey your unique perspective on specific medical treatments. (Note that a living will is not the same thing as a last will and testament.)

The Value of Advance Directives

Creating and updating advance directives goes beyond legal and medical care planning. It offers an opportunity for personal reflection. That reflection can involve addressing the following questions:

• What kind of life do you want to live as you age?
• Do you value quality or quantity of life?
• Whom do you want to step in and organize your care if you are unable to take care of yourself? What do you want this person to know?
• What are your thoughts on organ donation?
• Do you want to be buried or cremated?

Drafting and regularly reviewing power of attorney and living will documents provides an opportunity to clarify your goals and values.

These documents can then help you communicate your wishes to your family members. Talking with loved ones about your advance directives can start conversations about challenging subjects, such as what would happen if your health declined. Understanding your wishes can help guide your loved ones in making decisions on your behalf. This clarity can prevent stress, confusion, and family conflict.

In a sense, creating an advance directive can be considered an act of compassion, as you take time now to clarify your wishes so that your family members do not have to face heart-wrenching decisions later.

Take an older adult with grown children, for example. Appointing one child as health care agent and clearly stating one’s wishes could prevent conflict between the siblings. The power of attorney preempts arguments about what the parent wants. Everyone knows the health care agent will be the one to make final decisions that are based on the information you provide.

Making advance directives that reflect your values also fosters autonomy. You can have confidence that your loved ones know what to do if you need their help. This can help you feel in control of your life and optimistic about the future. Consider it a final, profound opportunity to take control of your narrative.

How to Get the Most out of Your Advance Directives

While it is possible to quickly fill out a standard power of attorney form, execute the document, and be finished, you can take steps to get more benefits from advance directives.

First, take time to reflect. Consider your values before you finalize your documents. Journaling, talking with a friend or family member, or researching topics – such as what is involved in common life-sustaining treatments – can help you solidify your opinions.

Next, speak to several loved ones, gauge their willingness to act on your behalf, and assess whether your views align. This can help you find the right person to appoint as your agent. Even when views differ, it is important to choose someone you believe will respect your wishes.

After you’ve created a power of attorney or living will, share copies with your loved ones. This ensures that they know your intentions for long-term or end-of-life care and know how to help you if needed. These conversations may encourage your loved ones to similarly reflect on deep questions. It may even inspire them to create or update their own advance directives, benefiting the whole family.

Work With an Estate Planning Attorney

Establishing an advance directive can serve as a powerful expression of your personal values and autonomy. In addition to medical care decisions, it allows you to communicate your wishes in a way that transcends traditional legal or financial concerns. It helps ensure that your legacy includes your most deeply held beliefs about how you want to live – especially in moments when you may be unable to express them.

A qualified estate planning attorney in your area can help you draft your advance directives in accordance with your values. Professionals specializing in this field of law can assist you in creating a living will and health care proxy, ensuring that your medical wishes are honored, but also can draft other essential legal documents, including a will or trust, providing clarify and legal protection for you and your loved ones into the future.

An estate planning attorney can offer expertise in many other ways as well. For example, if you have minor children, estate planning includes appointing a guardian in the event that you and the other legal parent are no longer able to care for your children. Partnering closely with an estate planner on these types of documents is always a good idea.

For additional reading on some of the other basics of estate planning, check out the following articles:

• Who Makes Health Care Decisions If You Can’t?
• Make Sure Your Beneficiary Designations Match Your Estate Plan
• Congress Considering Full Repeal of Federal Estate Tax
• IRS Announces 2025 Gift Tax and Estate Tax Exemptions
• Inherited Retirement Accounts: Minimizing Tax Consequences
• No Will? You’re Putting Your Kids at Risk
• When, Why, and How to Discuss End-of-Life Care