Advance healthcare directives empower individuals to control medical decisions and support families during crises. By detailing treatment preferences, appointing a trusted decision-maker, and clarifying end-of-life choices, these documents reduce confusion for clinicians and prevent conflict among relatives while ensuring medical care aligns with personal values.
Better care alignment reduces hospital confusion and ensures care matches your values across different providers and settings. This continuity helps families grieve with confidence.
Choosing our team means working with attorneys who listen to your goals, explain options clearly, and ensure your directives fit your broader estate plan and family circumstances. We aim to provide reliable, easy-to-follow guidance.
Follow-up support: we offer ongoing reviews to adapt directives as life changes occur.
An advance healthcare directive is a legal document that records your medical preferences and designates a decision-maker when you cannot communicate. It provides guidance to clinicians and loved ones about the treatments you want, or do not want, and ensures your values steer medical decisions in serious situations while staying consistent with your overall estate plan. It also helps prevent unwanted interventions and supports your family during stressful times.
Choosing a health care proxy is about trust, availability, and the ability to advocate for your wishes under pressure. Consider someone who understands your values, can make timely decisions, and is reachable by medical staff. It’s wise to discuss responsibilities with the candidate and document their willingness in your directive for clarity.
A Living Will outlines which life-sustaining treatments you would want if you are terminally ill or permanently incapacitated. A health care proxy, by contrast, appoints a person to decide on your behalf for broader medical care. Used together, they clarify both immediate and ongoing medical decision-making in emergencies.
While you can draft directives without a lawyer, professional guidance helps ensure compliance with Maryland law, proper witnessing, and effective integration with your estate plan. A qualified attorney can tailor documents to your situation, reduce ambiguity, and coordinate updates as circumstances change.
Directives should be reviewed every few years or after major life events such as marriage, divorce, relocation, or a new diagnosis. Regular updates help keep your instructions aligned with current health status, family dynamics, and preferences for care and end-of-life choices.
Yes. Maryland residents can update their directives after relocation. The documents should reflect the new state’s requirements and be coordinated with local healthcare providers and institutions to ensure continued validity and accessibility.
Store originals in a safe, accessible location at home and with your primary care physician. Share copies with the hospital, an attorney, and trusted family members. Consider digital backups stored in secure, password-protected platforms for quick recovery in emergencies.
Doctors typically share information about directives with family members you designate, but access may depend on hospital policies and patient consent. Keeping copies in multiple locations and confirming your proxies are up-to-date helps ensure your wishes are respected.
Directives can be revoked or amended at any time as long as you have capacity. When revoking, notify your health care proxy and physicians, and replace or update copies to avoid conflicting instructions.
If there is no directive, medical decisions are made according to default state laws and hospital policies. This can lead to decisions not aligned with your preferences. Creating an directive proactively helps clinicians honor your values and reduces family distress.
