Utah Advance Health Care Directives

We recommend that most adults in Utah have an Advanced Health Care Directive in place. After all, anyone can become seriously ill or permanently incapacitated at any given time. A Health Care Directive allows you to protect yourself in the event you find yourself in such a position by naming an agent to act on your behalf and make important health care decisions if you are unable to make those decisions for yourself.

Your Health Care Directive not only allows you to name an agent (and successor agents) to act on your behalf with regard to health care decisions, it also gives you the opportunity to provide guidance to health care providers and your loved ones when it comes to making difficult health care decisions, such as end-of-life decisions.

A Health Care Directive also allows you to appoint a guardian in the event a court sees a need for one to be appointed for you in the future. Doing this will provide a future court with your preference as to who you want to be your guardian, in the event it is determined that one should be appointed for you.

It is critical that individuals complete their Health Care Directives, and put them in place, while they are fully competent and able to do so. Otherwise, it may be too late to take your wishes into account.

The Health Care Directive document can be confusing and many people hate the thought of ever needing one. However, they can be very important in carrying out your wishes and lawyers experienced in drafting advance health care directives can help. We can walk you through the document as you make these important and personal decisions concerning your future and make sure you're prepared in the event you ever can’t act for yourself.

Rest assured, even though it is wise to get a Health Care Directive in place now, that doesn’t mean you can’t change it or revoke it in the future if your circumstances change. We are also available to help you take those steps if you ever decide to do so.

Feel free to reach out to discuss your health care directive needs with one of our Utah estate planning attorneys. In these types of matters, we offer 30-minute, no-obligation consultations for a flat fee of $75.00. This allows us to schedule a specific time to talk regarding your goals and wishes and for us to answer your questions. From there, you decide whether you want to hire our Utah estate planning attorneys to help with your Utah Advance Health Care Directive needs.