This service provides clarity for patients, families, and providers. By documenting your choices, you reduce family conflict and avoid disputes during high-stress medical events. It also helps medical teams respect your autonomy, aligns treatments with goals, and supports a smoother transition of care across settings such as hospital, hospice, or home.
A well integrated plan helps healthcare teams interpret wishes consistently, minimizes disagreements among relatives, and provides a clear path for authorities to follow in emergencies, ensuring care aligns with personal values across diverse environments.
Choosing our firm means working with attorneys who care about your goals and your family’s peace of mind. We provide clear explanations, thorough drafting, and respectful guidance through sensitive topics, helping you build a durable plan that reflects your wishes.
We offer ongoing reviews, updates for life changes, and coordination with your medical providers to keep your plan current and relevant across various health care situations.
An advance directive is a legally recognized plan that conveys your medical preferences if you cannot communicate them. It often includes decisions about resuscitation, ventilation, and life-sustaining treatments, and it may designate a health care proxy to enforce those choices. Having this in place helps ensure your autonomy is respected even in crisis.
A trusted family member, friend, or caregiver who understands your values and is willing to communicate with clinicians can serve as your health care proxy. It’s essential to discuss responsibilities, ensure they are comfortable with the role, and confirm they reside in Maryland or are legally able to act in your care context.
Regular reviews update directives to reflect changes in health, relationships, or personal preferences. A good rule is to revisit documents every few years or after major life events. Updating ensures the proxy, physician instructions, and treatment preferences remain accurate and enforceable.
Without directives, decisions rely on default medical procedures and family input, which can lead to conflicts and delays. Hospitals may default to aggressive treatment, even if it conflicts with a patient’s values. Having directives reduces ambiguity and guides clinicians toward the care you would choose.
Yes. Maryland law allows amendments, restatements, or replacements of directives. You should sign and witness the changes according to legal requirements and distribute updated copies to your proxies and care providers to maintain consistency across settings.
A living will should specify which treatments you want or refuse, such as resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and tube feeding, in scenarios where recovery is unlikely. It can also address pain management and comfort care to maintain dignity and reduce suffering in final stages.
Coordinate directives with powers of attorney, wills, and trusts by aligning named agents and successors. Ensure contact details and physician preferences are consistent across documents. Keeping a central file and distributing copies prevents conflicting instructions and ensures smooth implementation.
Most reputable providers recognize Maryland compliant directives, but it’s prudent to confirm with your hospital or physician. Regularly update and share copies to guarantee accessibility, particularly when you move between facilities or regions with different policies.
Store originals in a safe, accessible location and provide copies to your proxy, primary care physician, hospital, and attorney. Digital backups can help, but always verify signatures and ensure documents are current and valid under Maryland law.
To schedule a consultation, contact our Westminster office by phone or through the website. We offer confidential discussions to understand your goals, explain options, and begin drafting a tailored advance directive package that fits your health care preferences and family needs.
