Everett Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive & Living Wills Lawyer
By creating an Advance Healthcare Directive, you give yourself and your loved ones an extraordinary gift: the confidence that your healthcare wishes will be respected, even if you cannot speak for yourself. The experienced team at ELG Estate Planning can support you throughout the process of creating your Advance Healthcare Directives. With us on your side, you can create a plan that protects your interests and supports your family when it matters most.
Our experienced team understands the unique needs of Everett residents and will work alongside you to create documents that give you and your family lasting peace of mind. Take control of your future healthcare decisions. Call us today or contact us online for a consultation about your advance healthcare directives.
Take a behind-the-scenes look at our ELG Estate Planning Seattle office and meet the incredible team behind the work. From your first consultation to finalizing your plan, we’re here to provide thoughtful guidance every step of the way.
Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive & Living Wills Lawyer Serving Everett
If you’re like many Everett residents, you worry about what will happen if your loved ones don’t know what healthcare decisions to make on your behalf if doctors say you have an advanced terminal condition or are permanently unconscious. Fortunately, you do not have to leave these decisions to chance, as an attorney can help you include an Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive or a Living Will into your estate plan to communicate those preferences to your loved ones and medical providers. Contact ELG Estate Planning today for an initial consultation with an Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive lawyer serving Everett, and let’s discuss your options together.
Understanding Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive / Living Wills
An Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive /Living Will (they all mean the same thing!) in Washington State, is a document that allows you to put your health care and end-of-life care preferences in writing so that your healthcare providers, family members, or healthcare agent or proxy knows your preferences should you become too ill or incapacitated to make healthcare decisions or communicate them. Advance Directives, also known as Healthcare Directives or a Living Will (though it’s not a will) work in conjunction with a Durable Healthcare Power Of Attorney, under which a person designates someone to serve as their healthcare agent or proxy and make medical decisions for them if they become incapacitated and unable to do so themselves.
An Advance Directive should cover various healthcare and end-of-life care decisions you may face while incapacitated due to injury, illness, or advanced age, such as:
What types of treatment or medication you do not want to receive due to religious or moral beliefs
Whether you want healthcare providers to keep you alive through artificial means (ventilators, feeding tubes, etc.)
The circumstances under which you wish to have artificial life-sustaining care withdrawn
When you would like your healthcare providers to cease medical treatment and switch to palliative/end-of-life care
Many people confuse Advance Directives with do-not-resuscitate orders, or in Washington, the POLST form. However, the Advance Directive covers a broader range of medical care and end-of-life wishes whereas a POLST is a doctor’s order (Physican’s Order on Life Sustaining Treatment). It’s lime green so it is conspicuous and often placed on the person’s refrigerator. A primary use is to inform emergency responders and other medical providers that you do not want them to attempt CPR or other resuscitation efforts if you stop breathing.
Benefits of Advance Directives / Healthcare Directives / Living Wills
Including an Advance Directive in your estate plan can offer you and your family various benefits, such as:
Preventing family disputes: Having an Advance Directive can help avoid disputes among your family members over what you “would have wanted” regarding healthcare or end-of-life care if you become incapacitated and unable to communicate your preferences or decisions. With an Advance Directive, your loved ones will have a written guide of your wishes regarding medical treatment or end-of-life care.
Guiding your healthcare agent: An Advance Directive can also assist your healthcare agent / proxy with making medical decisions if you become incapacitated. Although most people select someone who knows them extremely well to serve as a healthcare agent, an Advance Directive can help inform your agent about specific preferences or beliefs that may affect your healthcare decisions.
Relieving your loved ones from the burden of making the decision: Making the decision to stop artificially prolonging life can be heartbreaking and even traumatizing. Putting your wishes in writing relieves your loved ones from the burden and guilt of making these hard decisions, and makes your wishes clear to everyone involved.
Ensuring your healthcare providers carry out your wishes: Giving your healthcare providers copies of your Advance Directive can help ensure that you receive treatment according to your preferences and beliefs. As your providers discuss treatment options with your healthcare agent or family members, they can refer to your Living Will to help guide the decision-making process.
How to Set Up an Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive / Living Will
In Washington State, a person can create an Advance Directive (Healthcare Directive, aka Living Will) if they are at least 18 years old and of sound mind. A person has the legal capacity to create or amend an Advance Directive if they do not have a mental incapacity and can understand the nature and consequences of creating an Advance Directive. Creating an Advance Directivehas several requirements, including:
Two competent adults must witness the signature of the person who creates the Advance Directive and the witnesses cannot be related to the person, have the right under the person’s will or the law to inherit from them or be a health provider, or
Be notarized
An Advance Directive goes into effect after an attending physician or two licensed physicians determine and put in writing that the person has a terminal health condition or that the patient suffers from prolonged or permanent unconsciousness.
Once you execute an Advance Directive, you should provide copies of the document to your healthcare providers and your healthcare agent designated in your Healthcare Power Of Attorney. By giving your healthcare providers and proxy copies of your Advance Directive, you help them to carry out your wishes.
Attorney Help with Advance Directive / Healthcare Directives and Living Wills?
An estate planning lawyer from ELG Estate Planning can help you draft and incorporate an Advance Directive into your estate plan in Everett, WA, by:
Discussing your estate planning goals and your wishes and preferences concerning medical treatment and end-of-life care
Explaining how Advance Directive work and how they fit into a comprehensive estate plan
Crafting the terms of your Advance Directive, including anticipating potential healthcare scenarios you want to advise your healthcare agent or family members about
Helping you execute your Advance Directive and providing instructions concerning appropriate parties to receive copies so they understand your wishes
Contact Our Firm Today for Estate Planning Advice and Support
An Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive / Living Will allows you to take charge of your future by informing your healthcare agent or loved ones of your medical and end-of-life preferences if you cannot communicate them yourself. Contact ELG Estate Planning today for a confidential consultation with an estate planning lawyer serving Everett to learn more about Advance Directive and get help crafting one for your estate plan if you’d like to discuss your will or estate plan.
Our firm has three locations throughout Washington to serve your estate planning needs, but our office closest to Everett is in Seattle at 9725 3rd Ave. NE, Suite 600.
Schedule An Appointment with our seattle law office
Areas