Advance Healthcare Directives and Living Wills in New Hope

Match your instructions to the decisions an agent may face

Tennessee’s Advance Directive for Health Care form addresses both an agent or alternate and healthcare preferences. Consider these as related, but different, parts of your plan: preferences describe what matters to you, while an agent designation identifies someone to act on your behalf in healthcare matters.

When reviewing your preferences, ask whether each instruction is clear enough to guide a decision in the circumstances you have in mind. Then consider where you want an agent to use judgment. A direction about a particular kind of care and a broader statement about your values can serve different purposes; neither should be mistaken for a financial power of attorney or a court-appointed role.

Prepare a short care-values note

Before discussing document language, write a one-page note in your own words. It can help you distinguish a firm preference from a concern you want your agent to weigh, and give you something concrete to review with the person you may designate.

For each preference, note the situation you are thinking about, what matters most to you, and any uncertainty you want to discuss. Avoid trying to predict every possible medical circumstance. The goal is to make your priorities easier to explain, not to replace the directive.

• What outcomes or experiences matter most to me?
• Are there circumstances in which I would want my agent to weigh competing concerns?
• Who should be my first choice as agent, and who could be an alternate?
• Who should receive a copy or know where the signed document is kept?

Coordinate the document and sharing plan

Tennessee’s state form includes signing and copy-sharing instructions. Review those instructions as part of preparing the document, and plan how the people who may need it can access a copy. This is a coordination step; it does not mean every recipient has authority to make healthcare decisions.

A HIPAA authorization is a separate service the firm offers. Discuss whether information access should be coordinated with your healthcare directive, rather than assuming that naming an agent or sharing a copy answers every question about access to health information.

Review older instructions and clarify roles

If you already have a directive, compare it with your current care-values note and the person you would now choose as agent. Look for mismatches: an older preference that no longer reflects your wishes, a designated person you would no longer select, or copies circulating without a clear understanding of which document reflects your current plan.

Different roles are not interchangeable. A healthcare agent’s authority concerns healthcare decisions under the applicable document; a financial power of attorney concerns authority granted for financial matters. Trustees and court-appointed guardians or conservators have distinct roles as well. Identify each document and role rather than relying on a person’s title alone.

Questions to bring to a planning conversation

For clients in New Hope and elsewhere in Tennessee, Dale Law Group, PLLC offers assistance with advance healthcare directives and living wills. The firm’s office is in Murfreesboro; New Hope is a separate locality, not a firm office.

• How should my preferences and agent designation fit together if an agent must interpret my values?
• Should I name an alternate, and how can I explain the responsibilities to the people I choose?
• How should I reconcile an older directive with my current wishes and any separate HIPAA authorization?
• Which people should receive copies, and how can I make the current document identifiable?