• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sinclair Prosser Gasior

Annapolis Estate Planning Attorneys

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Call Now: (410) 573-4818

Attend a Free Workshop Trustee School

  • Home
  • About Our Firm
    • About Our Firm
    • Founding Attorneys
    • Meet Our Team
  • Services
    • Annapolis, MD Asset Protection and Business Planning
    • Estate and Gift Tax Figures
    • Annapolis, MD Elder Law & Medicaid Services
    • Annapolis, MD Trust Administration & Probate
    • Family-Owned Businesses & Farms
    • Annapolis, MD Incapacity Planning
    • Annapolis, MD LGBTQ Estate Planning
    • Annapolis, MD Pet Planning
    • SECURE Act
    • Annapolis, MD Special Needs Planning
    • Estate Planning for Young Families
  • Resources
    • DocuBank
    • Elder Law Reports
    • Estate Planning Definitions
    • Free Estate Planning Worksheet
    • Frequently Asked Questions
      • Asset Protection Planning
      • Estate Planning
      • Frequently Asked Questions for Families Without an Estate Plan
      • Legacy Wealth Planning
      • LGBTQ Estate Planning
      • Medicaid
      • Power of Attorney
      • Probate Avoidance
      • Trust Administration & Probate
      • Wills
    • Is Your Estate Plan Outdated?
    • Probate Resources
    • Reports
      • Advanced Estate Planning
      • Basic Estate Planning
      • Trust Administration
      • Estate Planning for Niches
    • Top 10 Estate Planning Techniques
    • Newsletters
  • COMMUNITIES WE SERVE
    • Anne Arundel County
      • Annapolis
      • Crownsville
      • Davidsonville
      • Highland Beach
      • Millersville
    • Baltimore County
    • Calvert County
      • Dunkirk
      • Huntingtown
      • Owings
    • Charles County
      • Charlotte Hall
      • Waldorf
    • District of Columbia
    • Howard County
    • Maryland
      • Clarksville
      • Columbia
      • Ellicott City
    • Prince George County
      • Bowie
      • Fort Washington
      • Glenn Dale
    • Queen Anne’s County
      • Grasonville
      • Queenstown
      • Stevensville
    • St. Mary’s County
      • Charlotte Hall
      • Leonardtown
  • Reviews
    • Our Reviews
    • Review Us
  • BLOG
  • Contact Us
  • Make A Payment
  • Client Portal
Home / Estate Planning / End-of-Life Planning / What Should be a Part of Your Health Care Directive

What Should be a Part of Your Health Care Directive

June 15, 2017 by Jon J. Gasior, Estate Planning Attorney

“What Should Be Part of Your Health Care Directive?” by Attorney Nicole Livingston

Creating a health care directive is one of the best things that you can do for yourself and one of the most important things that you can do in order to try and protect your loved ones. You never know when a medical emergency will arise, as illness and injury can affect people young and old. If you suffer a serious medical problem and cannot speak for yourself about the kinds of care you do, and do not, want to receive, an advanced directive can provide important instructions about your wishes. health care directive

Making an advanced directive for health care is not something to be taken lightly, as you are literally making life and death decisions. You should get help from an experienced attorney to find out about how to create your advanced directive for healthcare and to ensure that you follow Maryland laws to use the proper forms.

A qualified estate planning attorney can provide assistance in determining what you need to do to plan ahead in case of a medical emergency and can assist you in going through the entirety of the process of creating advanced directives.

What Should be Part of Your Health Care Directive?

The State of Maryland Office of Attorney General has prepared a Guide to Maryland Healthcare Decisions, which can help you to better understand the ways that you can plan in advance to determine what happens if you suffer an incapacitating illness or injury.

If you cannot provide instructions or refuse or decline care in your medical state, your advanced plan will allow your family to avoid confusion over who should make decisions on your behalf and will allow your family to avoid going to court to have someone appointed to make decisions for you. Your loved ones also won’t feel uncertain about what you would have preferred when it comes to the use of extraordinary measures to save your life.

There are a few different things you can do to make your advanced plans for care. As the Office of the Attorney General explains, one thing you can do is to name a healthcare agent. Your healthcare agent is a person who you trust, who you know will respect your preferences and make the right kinds of decisions on your behalf. The health care agent will make any decisions that you did not expressly make in advance about your care.

In addition to naming a healthcare agent, a Maryland law called the Health Care Decisions Act also gives you the right to express your preferences about specific kinds of procedures and interventions you want, or don’t want, in medical emergencies. You can use a Living Will to express your treatment preferences on issues like whether you want a feeding tube to be used or artificial hydration or other measures used to save your life.

There are specific requirements that must be followed in order for a health care directive to be legally enforceable. The Attorney General provides some sample forms that you can use to make your living will and to name your health care agent. You don’t have to use those forms, nor do you have to address every single issue that a living will could address.

However, you do need to have a signature on the advanced directives that you create and you must have two witnesses who observe you signing the forms. The witnesses who observe the signing of the forms can be almost any adult, except the person who you are naming as your health care agent may not be a witness to the signing of your health care directive that named him as an agent.

Getting Help from An Annapolis Incapacity Planning Lawyer

Sinclair Prosser Gasior can guide you in understanding the types of decisions that you can make in advance with regards to healthcare in a medical emergency. Our legal team can also help you to identify the different steps that you need to take to make your wishes known so you get to determine who makes decisions on your behalf and what kind of care you want to receive and want to decline.

To find out more about how you can plan ahead in case of a serious illness or serious injury, join us for a free seminar. You can also give us a call at 410-573-4818 or contact us online to get personalized advanced from an Annapolis incapacity planning lawyer about all aspects of preparing for a medical emergency. Give us a call today to find out more.

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Jon J. Gasior, Estate Planning Attorney
Jon J. Gasior, Estate Planning Attorney
Attorney/Owner at Sinclair Prosser Gasior
His personal experience with family and the problems that resulted from their failure to create an estate plan resulted in his desire to learn more about this area of the law. From his work in the Elder Law Clinic, he further realized the need to plan not only for death, but also for incapacity during their lifetime.
Jon J. Gasior, Estate Planning Attorney
Latest posts by Jon J. Gasior, Estate Planning Attorney (see all)
  • Helping Your Family Through Estate Planning - September 21, 2022
  • Estate Planning Scams - August 16, 2022
  • What is the Maryland Trust Act? - July 11, 2022

Filed Under: End-of-Life Planning Tagged With: Annapolis estate planning attorney, Bowie estate planning attorney, Estate Planning and Elder Law attorneys, health care agent, Health Care Decisions Act, health care directive, Healthcare Power of Attorney, Living Will, Maryland estate planning and elder law attorney Jon J. Gasior, Maryland Estate Planning and Elder Law Attorneys, Millersville estate planning attorney, Waldorf estate planning attorney

Other Articles You May Find Useful

estate planning
End-of-Life Planning: Estate Planning at its Core
Estate-Planning-Graphic
Luke Perry’s Estate Plan to Protect His Family
Sinclair Prosser Gasior
Communication is Key in End-of-Life Planning
Sinclair Prosser Gasior
Communication is Key in End of Life Planning (Audio)
Sinclair Prosser Gasior
What Should I Bring to My Estate Planning Consultation?
Sinclair Prosser Gasior
End-of-Life Planning: Estate Planning At Its Core

About Jon J. Gasior, Estate Planning Attorney

His personal experience with family and the problems that resulted from their failure to create an estate plan resulted in his desire to learn more about this area of the law. From his work in the Elder Law Clinic, he further realized the need to plan not only for death, but also for incapacity during their lifetime.

Primary Sidebar

Download our free estate planning worksheet

There's a lot that goes into setting up a comprehensive estate plan, but with our FREE worksheet, you'll be one step closer to getting yourself and your family on the path to a secure and happy future.
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Testimonials

5 Stars
Client Review
September 3, 2020
    

We initiated estate planning following a presentation by Sinclair Prosser Attorney Jon Gasior. We were so impressed, we contracted with them to complete our estate planning. Subsequently, we assembled information on our assets and Sinclair Prosser Gasior did the rest. Correspondence was communicated to our financial institutions and the estate was established. We were very pleased with the courteous manner of the Sinclair Prosser Gasior staff. However, it was their professionalism that made us satisfied we chose this firm to handle our estate. We have nothing but praise for Sinclair Prosser Gasior .

default image
– Walter K.

Blog Subscription

Sign up for our blog to receive all of our latest estate planning news and updates!
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

ANNAPOLIS

900 Bestgate Road
Suite 103, Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Phone: (410) 573-4818
Fax: (410) 573-2802

BOWIE

4201 Mitchellville Road
Suite 403, Bowie, MD 20716
Phone: (301) 970-8080
Fax: (410) 573-2802

MILLERSVILLE

1520 Jabez Run Rd
Suite 300, Millersville, Maryland 21108
Phone: (410) 573-4818
Fax: (410) 573-2802

WALDORF

Hamilton Centre II
3261 Old Washington Road, Suite 2020 Waldorf, MD 20602
Phone: 800-366-4615

Map

map for office

Footer

footer logo
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

The information on this Maryland Attorneys & Lawyers / Law Firm website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

© 2023 American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys| Privacy Policy | Contact Us | Disclaimer | Site Map