An advance directive is a way to tell your loved ones and doctors your wishes if something happens and you can’t speak for yourself. A directive can include the type and extent of your medical care.

An advance directive is a legally binding document regulated by state laws. Advance directives are subject to The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA), 1990, a federal law that encourages individuals ...

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

Living wills and other advance directives are written, legal instructions regarding your preferences for medical care if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. Advance directives guide choices ...

States generally allow a person (principal) to appoint another person (agent) to make health care decisions, receive protected health information, or both on the principal’s behalf. In many states, ...

The end of life sometimes begins with an advance directive. Learning about advance directives now may make things easier for your loved ones later, when they’re in a hospital room trying to decide ...

If you were in a hospital bed, severely brain damaged and unable to speak for yourself, would you want distraught family members to guess or, even worse, debate your end-of-life wishes? Several state ...

Some consider the regular feeding of late-stage dementia patients to be nonnegotiable. Others see it as extending life ...

If estate planning isn't a grim enough subject, adding an advance directive for dementia to your plan is doubly unpleasant. But an hour or so of your time now could ensure your loved ones know how you ...

HOME VERSUS HOSPITAL: Attorney Eva Clement, who helps people prepare advance-care directives, notes that the legal world hasn't caught up with the cultural shift from at-home to institutionalized ...

Advance directives enable individuals to exercise control over their futures and ensure that the care they receive at the end of their lives is pursuant to their wishes. Yet, the majority of ...