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Advance Directive in Oklahoma: How to Honor Your Wishes
If you're looking for a way to manage your health care in the future, an advance directive in Oklahoma is a tool that you can use to make sure that your wishes are honored. In this article, you will learn more about how an advance directive form can help you.
This article is not intended to act as a substitute for legal advice. It is for educational purposes only. Estate planning, including the use of an advance directive in Oklahoma, should be done on an individual basis. Ball Morse Lowe provides free consultations. Schedule your free consultation now to learn more about how an advance directive can help you with your estate planning needs.
What Is an Advance Directive Form?
An advance directive form is commonly referred to as a living will. It allows you to appoint a decision-maker, who may be referred to as a proxy decision-maker, to make medical treatment decisions or medical decisions on your behalf under Oklahoma law. These decisions are made to honor your wishes, which you have explained in the advance directive form.
You can use the document to explain which medical treatments you wish to receive as well as which you do not wish to receive in the event you are terminally ill, unconscious, or otherwise unable to express your wishes. The proxy decision-maker you name has the responsibility to work with your medical providers and other interested persons to honor your wishes.
An advance directive in Oklahoma is an important document because it helps explain your wishes to your family members. It helps prevent misunderstandings and allows you to have a voice when you otherwise wouldn't be able to express yourself.
Medical Care and Medical Treatment: Handling Health Care for Long Term Treatment
Planning your health care decisions in advance is crucial. No one likes to consider the possibility of becoming terminally ill or being involved in an accident that leads to a persistent vegetative state. Cancer.gov states that over half a million individuals will die from cancer and that roughly over 1.9 million Americans were diagnosed in 2020. The mortality rate is higher for men than it is for women. Yet, everyone who is 18 years of age or older needs an advance directive form. Just as there is no real way to determine if someone will be diagnosed with cancer, there is no way to know if an accident will happen that will leave you with no way to express your wishes related to your health care. And that's exactly the purpose of an advance directive in Oklahoma.
You complete an advance directive before you ever need it. You explain which medical treatments and medical care options you do and do not want. This includes, and is not limited to, the use of surgical treatments and artificial life-sustaining measures such as artificial nutrition and hydration. As part of your long-term medical decision desires, you also explain if and when you want to stop these measures and wish to use only comfort care and whether you have a do not resuscitate order in place. If you have specific religious beliefs that do not allow for certain types of medical care, such as a blood transfusion, an advance directive form should be used to indicate this. If you are terminally ill and unable to make decisions, your proxy decision-maker can use this information to honor your wishes if you indicated them clearly within the document.
Note that an advance directive in Oklahoma is not the same as a medical durable power of attorney. A medical durable power of attorney is a type of durable power of attorney that can be used if you are determined by a medical professional to be incapacitated. For example, you are in a persistent vegetative state because of a terminal illness. A durable power of attorney can be used by your proxy decision-maker to continue to make decisions regarding your health care on your behalf. However, it has limits. It cannot be used to make end-of-life decisions on your behalf, even if you made those decisions known to your proxy decision-maker or other family members. Those decisions can only be made if you have an advance directive form in place with a decision-maker named. That is the document used for end-of-life care and medical decisions.
Choosing a Proxy Decision Maker for an Advance Directive in Oklahoma
Choosing a proxy decision-maker for your advance directive form is important. You must adhere to Oklahoma law. You do not have to choose a family member, but it is important to choose someone that you trust. You must keep in mind that you need a decision-maker that will honor your medical decisions and medical treatments. You also have the right under Oklahoma law to revoke your advance directive at any time if you decide that you want to choose someone else to act as your decision-maker.
Schedule Your Free Consultation to Learn More
Your health care is important. An advance directive form is just one way that you can make sure that your wishes are honored. To learn more about how an advance directive form can help you voice your medical treatments and medical care wishes, schedule your free consultation with Ball Morse Lowe now.