Advance Directive Basics: What You Need to Know

KEY TAKEAWAYS: 

• An Advance Directive outlines healthcare preferences when individuals can't make decisions. 
• It's essential to ensure wishes are respected during serious illness, termination conditions, or surgery. 
• Notary Live offers easy, remote online notarization for Advance Directives.

In today's world, it's important to know how you and your family can easily notarize an Advanced Directive. 

In this article, we'll define Advanced Directive, why it's important, and why notarizing it is necessary. We'll also show you how NotaryLive can make the notarization process easier for you when it comes to your medical documentation. 

1. What Is An Advance Directive? 

An Advance Directive is an essential document that allows people to plan and share their healthcare wishes. 

This document acts like a guide, showing what treatments you want or don't want if you can't make decisions for yourself because of illness or other reasons. 

This document can include: 

• wishes about end-of-life care
• preferred treatments
• choosing someone you trust to make decisions for you

When is an Advanced Directive needed? 

Here are some situations where an Advance Directive is needed: 

• Serious illness or injury: Ensures your wishes are followed if you can't make decisions due to illness or injury
• Terminal condition: Let's you share your wishes for treatment and care if you have a terminal illness
• Cognitive Impairment: Protects your medical requests if you have conditions like dementia or Alzheimer's disease
• Surgical Procedures: Allows you to state your preferences for treatments, blood transfusions, or organ donation before surgery

Some Important Considerations

1. Do I need an Advance Directive to go to the hospital? 
   • No. You do not need an Advance Directive to receive hospital care. However, if you're unable to express your medical wishes, it's recommended to have one.
2. When does an Advance Directive become effective? 
   • It becomes effective when you can no longer speak for yourself regarding your medical requests. 
3. Where should I keep my Advance Directive? 
   • Keep your Advance Directive in a safe spot that was agreed upon you and your family. Provide copies to doctors, attorneys, and those you trusted to make medical decisions for you. 
4. Can I change my Advance Directive? 
   • Yes. You can change or cancel your Advance Directive by: 
     • destroying all copies
     • making written changes
     • informing your family, attorney and healthcare providers 

2. An Advance Directive is Different from a Living Will and a Healthcare Proxy

Let's explore the differences between a healthcare proxy, a living will and an advance directive. 

Advance Directive vs. Living Will 

A living will is a legal document that states your preferences for medical treatment and end-of-life care.

It allows you to specify which treatments you want to avoid or want to have. 

Unlike a Healthcare Proxy, a Living Will does not designate a specific person to make decisions for you. Instead it only provides specific instructions about medical treatments. 

Advance Directive vs. Healthcare Proxy

A Healthcare Proxy is a legal document that allows you to pick someone you trust as your healthcare agent. This means that this person can make medical decisions for you on your behalf. 

Sound familiar? There's a difference. 

Advance Directive vs Healthcare Proxy & Living Will 

An Advance Directive encompasses the Healthcare Proxy and the Living Will, ensuring your wishes are followed. 

The document can include one or the other, or both. 

3. Notarizing Your Advance Directive 

How to obtain these documents?

Forms for Advance Directives or specifically Healthcare Proxy and Living wills can be gathered from:

• hospitals
• doctors
• nurses
• social workers
• and advocacy organizations

**Tip: a lawyer can help you in preparing your Advance Directive as well. 

Notarization ensures an Advance Directive's validity 

In order to ensure the effectiveness of this legal document, it must be signed, dated, and notarized (especially if you plan to travel out-of-state. 

NotaryLive can help you with the notarization process. 

4. Notarize For Your Advance Directive Documents Online with NotaryLive

When you can notarize a document online with NotaryLive in a matter of minutes, there's no need to make the effort to travel, take time off work, or waste your day going to the nearest local notary. 

Here's how NotaryLive works in 4 easy steps: 

To get started, you can click the button below.

Notarize Now!

FAQ For Advance Directive

• What is the difference between a DNR and an Advanced Directive? 
  • A DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) is signed by a doctor when someone is terminally ill or frail. It instructs emergency personnel to withhold resuscitation efforts. 
  • An Advance Directive allows you to share your wishes for medical treatment if you're unable to do so. 
• What is the difference between an Advance Directive and a decision? 
  • An Advance Directive is a formalized version of your wishes for future care. It includes medical decisions but is not necessarily legally binding. 
  • A decision refers to specific choices made during advance care planning. This can include treatment preferences or appointing a healthcare proxy. 
• Is advance care planning legally binding? 
  • No. They are not legally binding, but they inform and guide decision-making when you cannot communicate medical preferences directly. 
• What is the most common advance directive? 
  • The most common are the Living Will (specifies how you want to be treated) and the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (allows you to name a healthcare proxy to make decisions for you when you cannot). 

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