Advance healthcare directives and living wills preserve patient autonomy, ensure respect for treatment choices, and reduce uncertainty during crises. By setting clear instructions and appointing a trusted healthcare proxy, families avoid conflict and costly court processes. Properly drafted directives provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
Streamlined decision-making reduces the risk of inconsistent choices across care settings and provides a clear roadmap for caregivers, enabling faster, more humane responses during emergencies. It also supports long-term financial planning by coordinating healthcare decisions with asset protection strategies, reducing the likelihood of costly, conflicting instructions.
Choosing our firm means working with seasoned counselors who listen closely, translate complex medical terms into plain language, and tailor documents to your circumstances. We focus on transparent pricing, thorough explanations, and a collaborative process that helps you feel confident about every decision.
Part 2 ensures ongoing governance: the plan includes triggers for updates, contact changes, and periodic reviews. We outline steps for resubmission, storage updates, and how to handle revocations, allowing your directives to remain accurate over time.
An advance healthcare directive should reflect your medical preferences, designate a trusted healthcare proxy, and specify consent or refusal for common treatments, such as resuscitation, intubation, and life support. Include clear decision criteria and discuss values with family members to ensure consistency across your plan. Regular reviews keep the document aligned with current health and family circumstances.
A healthcare proxy should be someone you trust to make decisions consistent with your values. In Maryland, you can appoint a family member, friend, or other trusted individual. Discuss your wishes in advance, ensure they understand your instructions, and provide them with copies of your directive and relevant contact information.
Directives should be reviewed at least every two to three years, or after major life events such as a marriage, divorce, birth, or significant health change. Updates ensure your choices still reflect current medical preferences and family circumstances, and they help avoid outdated language or contradicting provisions.
If you have no directive, medical decisions may default to state law and family members without clear guidance. This can lead to delays, disputes, and care that does not reflect your wishes. Establishing directives helps protect autonomy and reduces the burden on loved ones.
A living will expresses treatment preferences for terminal or irreversible conditions, while a will primarily deals with property after death. Both are important, but they serve different purposes. Aligning living wills with a broader estate plan ensures medical and financial decisions are coherent.
Yes. You can revoke or modify directives at any time as long as you have decisional capacity. Changes should be communicated to your proxy and physicians, and updated copies should be distributed. Proper execution and storage help ensure revocation is recognized by care teams.
Store original documents in a secure, accessible location and provide copies to your proxy, primary physician, and attorney. Keep digital backups if allowed in your practice, and ensure your executor or trusted contact knows where to find the originals when needed.
While you can draft basic directives without a lawyer, consulting an attorney helps ensure compliance with Maryland law, proper execution, and integration with other estate planning documents. A professional review minimizes risk and increases the likelihood that your directives will be honored.
Preparation time varies with complexity. A simple directive may take a few days, while a comprehensive plan with multiple documents can take several weeks. Scheduling a series of focused consultations helps ensure accuracy and coherence across all related documents.
Fees depend on the complexity of your directives and the number of documents involved. We offer transparent pricing and detailed estimates before work begins. You’ll receive a clear outline of what is included, from drafting to execution and storage.
