|
----------------------------------------------------------------
Advance Directives
Advance directives let you give instructions to your health care providers and your family about your health care wishes. Advance directives go into effect only when you cannot make your own health care decisions.
In the State of Georgia, there are two legal documents that let you address your medical treatment when you cannot make health care decisions.
A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care lets you choose a person to make decisions about your medical care when you cannot make your own decisions. This person is called an “agent.”
A Living Will lets you state your wishes about medical care in the event that you are terminally ill, in a persistent vegetative state or coma and cannot make your own medical decisions. This diagnosis must be certified in writing by both your doctor and one other doctor before the Living Will can go into effect.
Advance directives are legally binding only if the person completing them is a competent adult who is at least 18 years old.
Top of Page
Durable Power of Attorney Questions & Answers
Who should I choose as my agent?
Your agent is the person you choose to make decisions about your health care when you cannot make decisions. Your agent can be anyone you trust to make serious health care decisions. The person you name as your agent should clearly understand your wishes and be willing to accept responsibility for making medical decisions for you. No health care provider may act as your agent if they are involved in your health care. You also can appoint a second or third person as your alternate agent(s). These alternates would step in if the first person you name is unable, unwilling or unavailable to act for you.
How do I make my Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care legal?
The law requires that you sign your Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care in the presence of two witnesses who must be at least 18 years old. If you are a patient in a hospital, your Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care also must be signed in the presence of your attending doctor. You do not need to have your Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care notarized.
What if I change my mind?
You may cancel your Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care at any time, regardless of your mental or physical condition, by:
- Destroying or marking through your document;
- Signing and dating a statement canceling the document or directing another person to do so, or
- Orally canceling your document in the presence of a witness, at least 18 years of age, who must sign and date a written confirmation of your cancellation within 30 days of the date of cancellation.
Top of Page
Living Will Questions & Answers
How do I make my Living Will legal?
State law requires that you sign your Living Will in the presence of two witnesses. The witnesses must sign the document to show that they personally know you and believe you to be of sound mind, that you signed the document in their presence and that they are 18 years old or older.
Living Will witnesses cannot:
- Be related to you by blood or marriage,
- Be financially responsible for your medical care,
- Be entitled to any part of your estate upon your death,
- Have a claim against any portion of your estate,
- Be your doctor or a person employed by your doctor, or
- Be an employee of a health care facility in which you are a patient.
If you are a patient in the hospital and want to make a Living Will, you are required to have a third witness. The third witness must be the chief of the hospital medical staff, any physician on the medical staff who is not participating in your care or a person on the hospital staff who is not participating in your care designated by the chief of staff and the hospital administrator. The third witness cannot be involved in your care in any way. You do not need to have your Living Will notarized.
Can I add personal instructions to my Living Will?
Yes. You can add personal instructions in a statement such as, “I do not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), a ventilator or antibiotics.” If you do not want artificial nutrition, artificial hydration or both, you must check the appropriate boxes on the form.
What if I change my mind?
You can cancel your Living Will at any time, regardless of your mental condition, by:
- Destroying the document,
- Signing and dating a written cancellation, or directing another person to do so in your presence, or
- Orally or otherwise expressing your intent to cancel your Living Will.
Your doctor must be notified of your cancellation in order for it to be effective.
Top of Page
After You Have Completed Your Documents
You are responsible for giving your doctor, the hospital and your other health care providers copies of your Advance Directive(s).
If you want to make any changes to your Advance Directive documents after they have been signed and witnessed, you must complete new documents.
Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will forms are available from the hospital’s Admissions office.
Top of Page
|