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Advance Health Directive

An Advance Health Care Directive, also known as an Advance Directive, is a legal document that specifies how you want to be cared for at the end of your life.


To complete an Advance Directive, you must specify the types of treatments you would and would not like to receive at the end of your life. It includes your Living Will and Health Care Proxies (or Health Care Power of Attorney).


This worksheet can help you prepare for the decisions you'll need to make on those forms, as well as any discussions you may have with your doctors or family.

Determine the types of life-sustaining care you desire and do not want at the end of your life.
This will be your Living Will. Life-Supporting Treatments can include medical equipment to assist with breathing, medical devices to deliver food and water, blood transfusions, dialysis, antibiotics, and surgery.
Decide who you want to make medical decisions on your behalf should you no longer be able to make your own health care decisions.
This person will be your Health Care Proxy, also known as a Health Care Power of Attorney
Decide if you want a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order.
A DNR order is separate from a Living Will, even if your Living Will states that you do not want life-support treatments at the end of your life. If you'd like to have a DNR order, you'll need to meet with your doctor to complete the forms.
Decide if youd like to become a registered organ donor
Complete your states paperwork to make these decisions legal.
Use the decisions you've made here to help you complete your state's advance directive forms. Depending on the state you live in, the form for a Living Will and the form for a Health Care Proxy may be combined into a single form, or they may be separate forms.
Store these forms in an obvious, accessible location where they can easily be found in the event of an emergency, and make copies of these forms for your health care agent.
Be sure to tell your health care power of attorney and your family where youve stored these documents.
In order to create an Advance Directive, you're going to need to fill out your state’s particular forms.
State-by-State Advance Directive Forms