Differences Between Healthcare Directives and Living Wills

When a medical crisis leaves you unable to communicate, your family may suddenly face decisions about life-prolonging treatment without knowing what you would choose. A living will can provide those instructions in advance, while a healthcare power of attorney can give someone you trust authority to make healthcare decisions for you. In North Carolina, both can form part of your advance healthcare planning.

The distinction matters because these documents solve different problems. One records certain decisions you have already made; the other provides a decision-maker when circumstances require someone to act on your behalf.

At Hefferon Law, PLLC, we help clients decide how to document future healthcare choices as part of an estate plan. From our office in Mint Hill, North Carolina, we serve clients throughout Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Union County, Cabarrus County, and surrounding communities. Contact us to discuss your estate planning needs.

What Does a Living Will Do in North Carolina?

A living will records your wishes about life-prolonging measures if you become unable to make or communicate healthcare decisions and certain medical circumstances apply. In North Carolina, this document is formally called an Advance Directive for a Natural Death.

Under North Carolina law, you can choose whether your directions apply if you have an incurable or irreversible condition that will result in death within a relatively short period, become permanently unconscious to a high degree of medical certainty, or experience an irreversible substantial loss of cognitive ability.

A living will can provide instructions about whether measures that artificially prolong life should be withheld or withdrawn in the circumstances you select. You can also make choices about artificial nutrition and hydration, identify the medical circumstances in which you want your instructions to apply, and provide additional wishes about your care and preferences.

The North Carolina Secretary of State provides the state's living will and other advance healthcare directive forms.

A living will allows your own choices to guide certain treatment decisions even when you can no longer communicate them.

What Can a Healthcare Power of Attorney Do?

A healthcare power of attorney lets you appoint someone to make healthcare decisions for you when you cannot make or communicate those decisions yourself. Unlike a living will, it grants a healthcare agent decision-making authority rather than relying solely on advance instructions.

You can place restrictions on that authority or provide additional directions about how you want your agent to act. This enables your agent to respond to medical circumstances you could not specifically anticipate when you prepared the document.

A healthcare power of attorney allows you to name someone you trust to make healthcare decisions when you cannot, while setting limits or providing guidance about the authority you give that person. Your agent can respond to healthcare situations within the authority granted by the document and obtain healthcare information and communicate with medical providers as permitted by the document.

Having a trusted decision-maker can be especially important when a medical situation falls outside the instructions you were able to give in advance. Through our healthcare directives practice, we can help you understand how these documents may work together.

How Are Living Wills and Healthcare Powers of Attorney Different?

The main difference is written instructions versus decision-making authority. A living will states certain choices you have already made about life-prolonging measures. A healthcare power of attorney appoints someone who can make healthcare decisions for you when you cannot.

Some important distinctions include:

• Purpose: A living will records certain treatment decisions, while a healthcare power of attorney appoints a healthcare agent.

• Decision-making authority: A living will communicates your own instructions. A healthcare power of attorney gives another person authority to make decisions within the limits you establish.

• Flexibility: A healthcare agent can respond to situations that may not have been anticipated when your documents were prepared.

• How they work together: A living will documents specific wishes, while a healthcare power of attorney authorizes your agent to make other healthcare decisions.

You do not necessarily have to choose one instead of the other. Because the documents serve different functions, having both provides written instructions and an authorized person to make healthcare decisions when needed.

Why Do Clear Healthcare Instructions Matter?

Clear healthcare instructions can reduce the chance that your family will have to interpret your wishes during a medical crisis. They can also identify who has the authority to act on your behalf, giving your loved ones and healthcare providers clearer direction when you cannot communicate for yourself.

When preparing healthcare documents, consider:

• Who you trust: Think carefully about who you would want making healthcare decisions for you.

• Your treatment preferences: Consider what care you would or would not want under different circumstances.

• Changes over time: Revisit your documents if your wishes or circumstances change.

• Communication: Make sure the appropriate people know your documents exist and how to access them.

No document can anticipate every medical situation. Clear instructions, combined with a trusted healthcare agent, can provide the people involved with more direction if you are unable to make those decisions yourself.

Plan Ahead With Hefferon Law, PLLC

You may already know that you would refuse certain treatment but have no idea whom you would trust to handle an unexpected medical decision. Or you may know exactly who should speak for you but have never put your own treatment wishes in writing. Those are separate decisions, and they do not need to be addressed in the same document.

At Hefferon Law, PLLC, we can help you determine whether a living will, healthcare power of attorney, or both fit the choices you want to make. From our Mint Hill office, we work with clients in Charlotte and surrounding North Carolina communities on healthcare directives and other estate planning documents. Contact our attorney, Ben Hefferon, to put your healthcare wishes and decision-making plan in writing.