Why Specificity Matters in Your Advance Directive

A recent case from a neighboring state illustrates the importance of specificity in advance directives — as well as the importance of choosing a healthcare attorney in fact who will carry them out. 

Lynne Chesley, an Oklahoma high school principal, had executed an advance directive stating that she did not want her life to be prolonged by artificial means. When the time came, Chesley’s healthcare proxy prevented doctors from removing her feeding tube, arguing that Chesley had revoked her advance directive by making small movements when she was told that removing the feeding tube would be painful. Chesley’s children took the matter all the way to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which ruled that it takes much stronger evidence than small movements to revoke an advance directive. The doctors subsequently removed the feeding tube after a three-year legal battle. 

You can avoid a scenario like this by working with a Branson estate planning lawyer to ensure that your wishes are honored. 

Specificity Is Essential in Ensuring Your Wishes Are Honored

You should strive to be as specific as possible about your wishes in your estate plan, including your advance directive. This is because you may be elderly and/or incapacitated when you need to rely on it and won’t be able to provide verbal instructions. Vague provisions often leave room for interpretation, which increases the risk that your healthcare proxy (i.e., healthcare attorney in fact) will do the wrong thing. For example, instead of simply stating that you do not wish to undergo life-prolonging procedures, specify the exact procedures you do not want — e.g., artificial nutrition and hydration, mechanical ventilators, heart-lung resuscitation, etc. 

Making Sure Your Advance Directive Reflects Your Wishes

When crafting an advance directive, it helps to think about specific scenarios that may arise. For example, specify “If I am in unconscious and in a vegetative state, do X” and “if I am conscious but unresponsive, do Y.” It is also important to make sure that your healthcare proxy understands why you want them to act or refrain from acting in certain situations. To that end, you may want to consider adding more “big picture” information into your advance directive, such as your preference for maximizing comfort with respect to extending your life or information about how your religious beliefs should influence their decisions. 

Review and Update Your Advance Directive Periodically 

An advance directive is not necessarily a static document — you can use it to proactively plan for your future. As your life changes and medical treatments continue to advance, an advance directive that you once executed may no longer serve your wishes. You should thus review your advance directive periodically (every few years, especially after major life events) and update it if necessary. Also ,ensure that you communicate your updates to your healthcare proxy. 

Create an Advance Directive That Works for You With Help From a Branson Estate Planning Lawyer 

End-of-life care should never be left to chance. If you don’t currently have an advance directive or would like to update an existing one, you should consider speaking to an experienced attorney. To get started, please contact a Branson estate planning lawyer at the LifeGen Law Group by calling 417-823-9898 or using our online contact form.