While a “living will” expresses your choices about the use of life-sustaining treatment in the event of a terminal condition, you also need a medical power of attorney to designate an individual you trust to make decisions regarding treatment in the event that illness or injury prevents you from making these decisions for yourself.
An advance directive is a document that specifies the type of medical and personal care you would want should you lose the ability to make and communicate your own decisions. Anyone over the age of 18 may execute an advance directive, and this document is legally binding in Texas. Your advance directive can specify who will make and communicate decisions for you, and it can set out the circumstances under which you would not like your life to be prolonged if, for example, you were in a coma with no reasonable chance of recovery.
A document that goes hand-in-hand with your advance directive is an authorization to your medical providers to allow specified individuals to access your medical information. Without this authorization, your doctor may refuse to communicate with your hand-picked decision maker.
To learn more information, contact The Gonzalez Law Group, PLLC, today at (832) 530-4070. Se habla español.
