My sister and I had to make decisions that determined the course of my parents’ final hours. This important end-of-life document could have guided us ...

An advance directive is a way to tell your loved ones and doctors your wishes if something happens and you can’t speak for yourself. A directive can include the type and extent of your medical care.

Christy Bieber has a JD from UCLA School of Law and began her career as a college instructor and textbook author. She has been writing full time for over a decade with a focus on making financial and ...

An advance directive is a legally binding document regulated by state laws. Advance directives are subject to The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA), 1990, a federal law that encourages individuals ...

The end of life sometimes begins with an advance directive. Learning about advance directives now may make things easier for your loved ones later, when they’re in a hospital room trying to decide ...

It’s a common hope that most people share: that their end-of-life wishes will be respected if something happened and they couldn’t make their own health care decisions. Yet only about a third of ...

States generally allow a person (principal) to appoint another person (agent) to make health care decisions, receive protected health information, or both on the principal’s behalf. In many states, ...

When I checked into a surgical center recently for a procedure that required general anesthesia, I presented my advance healthcare directive. But as I read over the consent form for the surgery, I ...