Wills & Estates

Advance Medical Directive

Health care agent plus living-will instructions, in the state's form.

What you get

  • An editable Word document, drafted from your answers and the state's official text.
  • A proof of sources: every citation in the draft with the words it quotes, the official source, the date the text was saved and its fingerprint.
  • Notes for counsel listing each point marked [VERIFY], each blank and each choice left for the client.

What the intake asks

Plain questions, in the order an attorney would take the facts. Anything left blank stays a marked blank in the draft; nothing is invented to fill it.

The health care agent

  • Declarant's full name
  • Declarant's address and identifying details required by the form
  • Health care agent
  • Agent's phone
  • Alternate agent
  • Agent and alternate contact details
  • When should the agent's authority begin
  • and 1 more

Treatment choices

  • If terminally ill or permanently unconscious, life-prolonging treatment should be
  • Artificial nutrition and hydration in that situation
  • Pain relief even if it may hasten death
  • If in an end-stage condition, an irreversible decline with no expectation of recovery
  • Instruction if the declarant is pregnant
  • Authorize the agent to admit the declarant for mental health treatment
  • Even over the declarant's protest

Authority and records

  • Include a HIPAA authorization for the agent
  • Primary physician

Donation and personal wishes

  • Organ and tissue donation
  • Which organs or tissues, and for what purpose
  • Religious or personal preferences
  • Prior directives to revoke or preserve
  • Nominate a guardian if one is needed
  • Authority after death
  • Wishes about remains

Where it is offered

Every state Lawsmith has official sources for:

Official sources on file

The drafter works from the texts Lawsmith has saved for this document in the state you choose, plus federal law where it applies. Each is read from the official publisher and dated.

StateSources for this document
California10
Connecticut18
Delaware13
District of Columbia12
Florida14
Maryland12
Massachusetts13
New Jersey27
New York16
Ohio11
Pennsylvania17
Texas12
Virginia15

Among them, for New Jersey:

  • N.J.S.A. 26:2H-55 Definitions.
  • N.J.S.A. 26:2H-56 Advance directive for health care; execution
  • N.J.S.A. 26:2H-57 Proxy, instruction directive; reaffirmed, modified, revoked.
  • N.J.S.A. 26:2H-58 Designation of health care representative; limitations.
  • N.J.S.A. 26:2H-59 Conditions under which advance directive becomes operative

How the draft is checked

Before it writes, the drafter must quote the official text behind each citation. Lawsmith compares every quotation with the text on file, character for character; a citation with no checked quotation reaches you marked [VERIFY]. The draft still needs your review before it is signed, filed or sent. How citations are checked

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