Having these documents reduces uncertainty for family members, clarifies your medical preferences for doctors, and helps guide care in alignment with your values. They also ease future decision-making during emergencies, minimize disputes, and ensure your healthcare roadmap remains in place even if you are temporarily unable to speak.
Clients who adopt a comprehensive approach report greater clarity about treatment choices and higher confidence that clinicians will follow their preferences. A clearly drafted set of documents reduces uncertainty for loved ones during difficult moments and supports timely, patient-centered care.
Clients choose our firm for straightforward explanations, careful drafting, and attentive service that respects family dynamics and your personal preferences, ensuring you feel heard and supported throughout the planning process.
We guide secure storage locations, distribute copies, and establish a system for updates so your directives stay current and accessible.
An advance directive is a broad instruction set that may name a healthcare agent to speak for you and outline how you want medical decisions made across a range of possible scenarios, from routine care to life-sustaining choices. A living will focuses on specific treatments and end-of-life scenarios, detailing which interventions you want or decline when you cannot express your preferences, providing doctors with actionable guidance that aligns with your values.
Many people choose both to cover different aspects of decision-making: a living will for treatment preferences, and a healthcare POA for appointing someone to act when you cannot communicate. Combining them ensures there is a clear plan for both concrete choices and a trusted surrogate to implement them, reducing ambiguity during emergencies and helping families navigate difficult decisions with confidence.
Choose someone who knows you well, shares your values, and can communicate effectively with medical staff under stress. Many clients opt for a family member, close friend, or trusted advisor. Discuss responsibilities with them in advance, provide copies of directives, and designate alternates in case the primary agent is unavailable or unable to serve.
Yes. It is advisable to review directives after major life events and periodically to reflect new health statuses, changes in relationships, relocation, or shifts in personal preferences, ensuring the documents remain accurate. Updates are straightforward and require proper execution, including signatures, witnesses, and storage updates, to maintain validity and accessibility for your care team.
In Maryland, many advance directive documents require witnesses for validity, and notary involvement may be optional but beneficial in certain circumstances, such as hospital use or cross-state situations. Your attorney can guide you on the appropriate execution steps, ensure compliance with state rules, and help you maintain up-to-date copies that clinicians can access when care decisions arise.
It is wise to review directives at least annually and after major life changes—such as marriage, divorce, birth or adoption, relocation, or a new medical diagnosis—to ensure they still reflect your preferences. If you make changes, consult with your attorney to update the documents appropriately and re-distribute copies to your healthcare agent, physicians, and facilities to keep everyone aligned.
Without directives, medical decisions may default to family members or the court, potentially causing delays, conflicts, or decisions that may not reflect your preferences. Establishing directives beforehand helps ensure your values guide care even when you cannot speak, reducing stress on loved ones and supporting timely treatment aligned with your goals.
Doctors strive to follow directives, but effectiveness depends on clear language, proper execution, and the documents being accessible at the point of care. Keeping originals with providers, sharing copies with your agent, and regular updates helps clinicians honor your choices across different settings.
A POLST form translates patient preferences into medical orders for serious illness or frailty, guiding actions such as resuscitation and scope of treatment. It is typically used for individuals with advanced illness or those at risk of a medical crisis, providing clear, actionable orders that EMS and clinicians can follow.
Costs vary with complexity, the number of documents, and whether updates or coordination with related instruments are included. A straightforward directive package may be affordable, while a comprehensive plan that integrates estate planning tools may require additional investment. We provide transparent pricing and a clear scope before work begins, helping you decide what best fits your needs, with options for flat-fee or bundled services.
