Allows a person to unequivocally communicate to healthcare providers (doctors and hospitals) that he/she does not want to be hooked up to machines to sustain their life when doctors believe there is little or no hope of recovery.

If a person does not have one then the same circumstances or controversy that Terri Schiavo’s family faced and endured along with government intervention into our private affairs is a possibility.

Ensures that the doctors and hospital staff know who is the person to contact in the event a person cannot talk to doctors himself/herself.

With the advent of HIPAA and the Terri Schiavo case, doctors and hospitals are more cautious about what services they provide and who they give information to. Having a Healthcare Surrogate Designation document will help define who is authorized to speak on the person’s behalf.

It is strongly recommended a person NOT rely on these “forms”. Most are not adequate in language. More importantly these are definitely documents you want an attorney to be able to stand behind and verify were done accurately and while the person was competent.

These are documents that if they have to ever be presented/used, will potentially save the family and person from thousands and thousands of dollars in legal costs.

Having the advanced directives (Living Will and Healthcare Surrogate document) will help to avoid possibility of the need and costs for guardianship proceedings.

Having these documents drafted for you by an attorney will provide further evidence that the documents were executed properly. In most cases the attorney will stand behind the document if it is challenged for improper execution or its contents as well.

If a person buys an office supply form, there are no assurances the document is accurate or even valid when presented.