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1. What is an Advance Directive?
2. What is a Health Care Directive?
3. What is a Living Will?
4. What is a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney?
5. Does an agent appointed in a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney need to be a resident of the state in which you live?
6. What training does a person need to become a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney?
7. Can an Advance Directive and a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney be combined into one document?
8. What authority does a Financial or Durable Power of Attorney have to make health care decisions?
9. When does an Advance Directive or Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney become effective?
10. Must physicians honor Living Wills, Advance Directives, and a health care surrogate's decisions?
11. What is a Pre-Hospital Directive (sometimes called an Orange Form)?
12. What is special about a Pre-Hospital Directive (Orange Form)?
13. If I complete a Pre-Hospital Directive do I need any other Advance Directive?
14. What happens if I do not have an Advance Directive?
15. Is a "surrogate" decision-maker the same as a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney?
16. Is it wrong to starve someone to death by withholding artificial nutrition and hydration?
17. Do I need a lawyer to complete an Advance Directive?
18. Do I need to use a special form?
19. Must a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney or Advance Directive be notarized?
20. Are Advance Directives written in other states valid in Arizona?
21. Who should get a copy of my Advance Directive and Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney?
22. What if I change my mind, or want to change my Directive?
23. What if I don't have time to change my Directive in writing?
An Advance Directive is a document in which you give instructions about your health care, what you want done or not done, if you can't speak for yourself.
Examples of Advance Directives include Health Care Directives, Living Wills, Health Care (Medical) Powers of Attorney, and other personalized directives.
A Health Care Directive is a type of Advance Directive that tells your doctor and your family members what kind of care you would like to have if you become unable to make medical decisions. It's called an "advance directive" because you choose your medical care before you become seriously ill.
Unlike most Living Wills, a Health Care Directive is not limited to cases of "terminal illness." If you cannot make or communicate decisions because of a temporary or permanent illness or injury, a Health Care Directive helps you keep control over health care decisions that are important to you. In your Health Care Directive, you state your wishes about any aspect of your health care, including decisions about life-sustaining treatment.
Click here to view or download an example of a Health Care Directive.
A Living Will is one form of Advance Directive. It usually only comes into effect if you are terminally ill. Being terminally ill generally means that you have less than six months to live. In a Living Will, you can say what kind of treatment you want in certain situations, but its use may be limited to situations when you are determined to be terminally ill.
A Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney lets you name someone to make medical decisions for you if you are unconscious or unable to make medical decisions for yourself for any reason. A Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney can be part of another advance directive form, such as a Health Care Directive or Living Will, or may be a separate document. The person you appoint to make decisions for you when you cannot is called an "agent."
Click here to view or download an example of a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney.
No, but they need to be available if a medical crisis occurs.
None. Your Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney is not a medically trained person. The person you appoint as your Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney is a person close to you that you can talk to about your values and feelings. Make sure that the person you appoint is willing to assume the responsibility of being your representative.
Yes, they often are.
None. A power of attorney only allows the making of health care decisions when the document specifically states that the right to make medical or health care decisions is included.
An Advance Directive, including a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney, has no legal effect unless and until you lack the capacity to make health care decisions or to give consent for care. Neither the appointed Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney, nor a written instruction can override your currently expressed choice.
Yes, doctors and other health care providers are legally obligated to follow your Advance Directive. In Arizona, if a physician will not comply with a directive, he/she must transfer the patient to another physician who will honor the patient's and/or the agent's decisions. If this is not possible, the situation is referred to the institution's Ethics Committee for resolution.
Emergency medical service personnel (or "911" responders) are generally required to resuscitate and stabilize patients until they are brought safely to a hospital. If needed, you may receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), which is treatment to try to restart a person's breathing or heartbeat. CPR may be done by pushing on the chest, by putting a tube down the throat or by other treatment.
If you do not wish to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing, you must complete a special Advance Directive document called a "Pre-Hospital Directive".
Please call 602-222-2229 to order free copies of the Pre-Hospital Directive.
This document must be on printed on bright orange paper and states that you do not want cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to restart your heart or breathing. The Pre-Hospital Directive must be signed by you and must be signed by either your physician or other health care provider.
Yes. The Pre-Hospital Directive has a limited role.
The Pre-Hospital Directive is only effective outside of a healthcare institution (at home and in the community); it is not effective in the hospital or other healthcare institution. The Pre-Hospital Directive states your decision to avoid cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but does not give your health care providers any direction on other important issues and does not appoint an agent to make medical decisions is you are unable to do so.
If you do not have an advance directive and you cannot make health care decisions, Arizona State law give decision-making power to default decision-makers or "surrogates." These surrogates, who are primarily family members, can make some or all health care decisions.
A person authorized to make health care decisions for a patient in the following order of authority:
In Arizona, if you do not appoint a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney, a surrogate decision-maker can make most medical decisions for you. However, a surrogate decision-maker cannot decide to remove artificial nutrition that has been started. Legally, only the person, a Health Care (Medical) Power of Attorney or a Guardian can authorize the stopping of artificial nutrition. The decision to withhold or withdraw any other treatment can be made by any surrogate.
Starvation is not what happens when artificial nutrition and hydration are stopped. The person will die from kidney failure, which is generally a comfortable death; they simply fall asleep.
No. You do not need a lawyer to make an Advance Directive.
You do not have to use a specific form. Although there is a sample form in the Arizona law, you may use any form, as long as it is conforms to the law and is properly witnessed.
Both of these documents may be either witnessed or notarized. The witness must know that you signed freely and had the capacity to understand what you were doing. The witness may not be the individual you have named as your agent, someone related to you by blood marriage or adoption, someone who will benefit from your estate, or your healthcare provider.
Yes, if they conform to the law of the state in which they were prepared and to Arizona law. Witnessing requirements may vary from state to state.
You or your agent should keep the original documents at home (not in a safe deposit box). Give copies to your physician(s), family members and anyone else you want to know about your wishes. Give a copy to other health care personnel, at the Emergency Room, Outpatient Clinic, or Hospital.
You can cancel or change any Advance Directive by telling your agent or health care provider in writing of your decision to do so. Destroying all copies of the old one and creating a new one is the best way. Make sure you give a copy of the new one to your physician and anyone else who received the old one. The most recent directive is the legally binding one.
If you do not have time to put your changes in writing, you can make them known verbally. Tell your doctor and any family or friends present exactly what you want to happen. Wishes that are made in person will be followed in place of the ones made earlier in writing. Be sure your instructions are clearly understood by everyone you have told.