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 ...

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 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.

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, ...

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 ...

Because life is uncertain, there may come a time when you are unable to discuss your wishes when it comes to end-of-life decisions. Without an advance directive, things can be much harder for loved ...

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 ...

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 ...