This service helps protect your medical rights, aligns care with values, and provides peace of mind to loved ones during difficult times. Proactive planning minimizes family disagreements, ensures privacy, and helps medical teams honor your preferences across emergencies, hospitalizations, or chronic illness.
Better alignment between medical teams and your family reduces delays, clarifies expectations, and supports timely treatment that honors your stated preferences. It also minimizes repeated questions during emergencies and fosters trust across care settings.
Choosing our practice in Highland provides tailored planning, clear communication, and reliable execution of documents that stand up to scrutiny and meet Maryland requirements. We listen first, explain options clearly, and guide you to decisions that reflect your values.
Execution checks and confirmations. We confirm that all parties understand the plan, and that copies reach physicians and the designated proxy. This promotes consistency and reliability.
Yes, state laws govern execution and recognition of directives. If you relocate, you should review and possibly update to reflect new state requirements and your current wishes. Our team can guide you through the changes and help reexecute documents. We assess whether you need new witnesses, changes in proxies, or revisions to your medical decisions based on Maryland law.
Choose someone you trust to advocate for your wishes, ideally a person with good judgment, clear communication, and a willingness to follow your directives. Consider alternates in case the primary cannot serve. Discuss expectations in advance, provide written copies, and align the proxy’s responsibilities with your loved ones and healthcare providers.
Costs vary based on complexity, the number of documents, and whether updates are required over time. Our office provides transparent pricing and options to fit different budgets. We can discuss flat fees for drafting and separate fees for execution. Continued support, updates, and storage arrangements may have modest annual charges.
Yes. You can revoke or amend directives at any time as long as you follow applicable legal procedures. Keep copies updated and inform your health care proxy. We guide you through the steps to revoke, re-execute, and replace documents so changes are effective and enforceable.
Advance directives primarily govern medical decisions; financial matters are typically addressed by other estate planning tools like powers of attorney for finances. We can coordinate these documents to work together. During your consult, we outline how medical and financial directives intersect and what documents you may need to protect both health and assets.
The timeline varies with complexity, but many clients complete core directives within a few weeks after initial discussion. Delays are uncommon when information is readily provided. We coordinate with you to schedule signing, notarization, and delivery of copies to proxy and clinicians. The aim is a smooth, valid completion.
Each state has its own requirements for execution, witnesses, and storage. Maryland has specific language and form requirements to ensure validity. We tailor documents to comply with Maryland rules. Our team stays current with changes and guides you through any needed updates. You receive clear, compliant documents.
A list of medications, your current health status, and any existing documents or powers of attorney helps us assess your situation more accurately. Also bring contact details for your healthcare proxy and family. If you have preferences about location, religious beliefs, or end-of-life choices, share them so we can reflect them properly. We provide a checklist to simplify preparation.
Not automatically. You should provide copies to your physician and hospital records so clinicians are aware of your directives. We help you coordinate this sharing. During execution, we designate preferred storage methods and give you and your proxy access to the documents. Having accessible copies reduces delays in urgent care.
Regular reviews with your attorney and healthcare proxy help ensure changes are captured and documented. Life events such as health changes, relocation, or family dynamics necessitate updates. We provide reminders and a straightforward update path to keep your plan current and enforceable. This process protects your autonomy through changing times.
