Medical Powers of Attorney, Living Wills, and Advanced Directives for Health Care

A living will is a directive that instructs family members and medical professionals on which end-of-life procedures you want done. For example, living wills typically provide instructions on when you want to be kept on or removed from life support. A medical power of attorney (also known as a health care power of attorney) is a legal document in which you are able to appoint someone to make decisions regarding your health care in the event that you become incapacitated.

In Alabama, these two documents are often combined into one document to form what is referred to as an Advanced Directive for Health Care. This document contains both a living will and a medical power of attorney.  It is often useful to designate a medical power of attorney in conjunction with a living will to form this document in order to ensure that you will have someone advocating for the directives you have spelled out in writing. In addition to those directives spelled out in writing, an advanced directive for health care can also allow you to appoint someone to make decisions regarding your health care that isn’t spelled out in writing.

At the Law Office of Rodney Davis we can help you decide if an advanced directive for health care is the right choice for you.