will.com / Healthcare directive
Create a healthcare directive, free
A healthcare directive tells doctors what medical treatment you want if you can’t speak for yourself, and names someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf. Without one, your family may face agonizing choices with no guidance.
What a healthcare directive includes
A healthcare directive is really two documents in one:
A living will states your wishes about medical treatment. Do you want life-sustaining treatment if you’re terminally ill? What about artificial nutrition and hydration? Pain management preferences? These are decisions you make now, clearly and calmly, instead of leaving them to someone else during a crisis.
A healthcare proxy (also called a medical power of attorney) names a person, your healthcare agent, to make medical decisions for you when you can’t make them yourself. This person speaks to doctors, reviews treatment options, and makes choices based on your wishes.
Why it matters
Without a healthcare directive, doctors follow their default protocols and your family members may disagree about what you would have wanted. In the worst cases, family disputes about end-of-life care end up in court.
With a healthcare directive, your wishes are documented and legally binding. Your healthcare agent has clear authority. Doctors know what to do. Your family is spared from guessing.
This is not just for older adults. Accidents and sudden illnesses can happen at any age. Every adult should have a healthcare directive.
Decisions you’ll make
Will.com walks you through the most common healthcare decisions in plain language:
- Life-sustaining treatment (ventilators, CPR, dialysis) if terminally ill or permanently unconscious
- Artificial nutrition and hydration (feeding tubes, IV fluids)
- Pain management preferences and comfort care
- Organ and tissue donation wishes
You also name a healthcare agent and a backup agent, and choose how much decision-making authority to give them beyond your stated wishes.
Healthcare directive vs. power of attorney
A healthcare directive covers medical decisions. A durable power of attorney covers financial decisions. They’re separate documents that work together.
Your healthcare agent can tell doctors to stop treatment, but they can’t pay your hospital bill. Your financial agent can pay the bill, but they can’t make medical decisions. You need both, and they can be the same person or different people.
Signing requirements
Most states require witnesses for a healthcare directive. Some require notarization. Many states have specific rules about who can and cannot serve as a witness (often your healthcare agent, your doctor, or employees of your care facility cannot serve as witnesses). Will.com provides state-specific signing instructions. See requirements by state →
After you sign
Give copies to your healthcare agent, your doctor, your local hospital, and close family members. A healthcare directive only works if the people who need it can find it.
Keep the original in a place where it can be accessed quickly. A locked safe deposit box is a bad choice for this document, since your agent may need it on short notice.
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