Advanced Healthcare Directive

Do you need the services of a knowledgeable Pennsylvania advanced health care directive lawyer? If so, it is imperative that you contact such a person sooner rather than later. An advanced health care directive attorney in the state of Pennsylvania will advise you about these crucial documents and how they need to be properly managed. It can be very confusing to understand advanced health care directives but the structure of these can also have important implications for your future.

Know your own plans so your loved ones can act accordingly. When you have documents like a living will, your family members know what to do.

Scheduling a consultation with an advanced health care directive lawyer in Pennsylvania is critical so that you realize exactly what you are doing with an advanced health care directive. A Pennsylvania advanced health care directive enables you to exercise your right to refuse medical treatment if you do not want to or to request treatment you do want in the event that you are unable to render either or those decisions on your own.

One of the most common situations in which this emerges could be after an accident or when you are suddenly incapacitated due to a mental or physical condition. You may no longer be able to exercise your own right to make these decisions but empowering another person to do so is why you would select an advanced health care directive. In order for your advanced health care directive to be seen as valid and legal in the state of Pennsylvania, you must date and sign it or direct another person to do so in the presence of two witnesses.

The witnesses have to be at least 18 years old and if you cannot sign the directive at that time, neither of the two witnesses can be the person who signs the directive for you. You must designate a health care agent for your advanced health care directive to make decisions when you are no longer able to make them on your own. This person could be a family member, a close friend or someone else that you trust to make these critical decisions.

He or she should be aware of the responsibility of stepping into this role. Unless this person is a relative, you cannot appoint an employee, operator or owner of the health care facility that is giving you care. You also cannot appoint your doctor or other health care provider. One of the biggest reasons for deciding on an agent in an advanced health care directive is to have a person who is able to respond quickly as your health care situation progresses and deal with unforeseen circumstances.

If you add additional instructions to this document, it will guide your agent as to your wishes. But make sure that you do not include anything that could unintentionally limit the agent's ability to do what is in your best interest. However, you are eligible to revoke your Pennsylvania advanced health care directive at any time and in a way that you see fit. This revocation is fully effective when you or someone witnessing the revocation notifies a health care provider like a doctor. Furthermore, if your spouse is your agent, a divorce will the automatically the directive. You may want to specify this in the forms that you put together. Be aware that there are also specifics inside a Pennsylvania health care directive as it relates to a mother who is pregnant since certain care could be physically harmful to the pregnant woman or prevent the development of life or birth of the unborn child.