Advance Directives vs. Representation Agreements: Key Things to Know
Advance Directives vs. Representation Agreements: Key Things to Know
In this article, we’ll cover the following topics:
What’s an advance directive?
What’s a representation agreement?
What’s the difference between the two?
There are two types of documents related to end-of-life planning: advance directives and representation agreements.
What’s an advance directive?
An advance directive is a document, authored by you, that sets out how you want to be treated near the end of your life and clarifies the types of treatments you want (or don’t want). If and when the time comes, this document can be provided by you or your loved ones to the medical practitioners overseeing your care near the end of your life.
What’s a representation agreement?
A representation agreement authorizes someone to make a wide variety of healthcare-related decisions on your behalf, including those that need to be made near the end of your life. In the agreement, you can provide whatever instructions that you wish the representative to follow (i.e. what treatments you’re OK with, where you want to be treated, and so on), but ultimately, the agreement generally appoints them with independent decision-making power – so, choose your representative wisely.
A representative can be given as much healthcare-related authority as you want them to have; this level of authority is stipulated in the agreement. For example, if you do not, under any circumstances, want to be subjected to experimental surgeries, you can include that in the agreement, and the representative would be legally bound to follow your direction.
Much like power of attorney, most people will appoint a primary representative (e.g. a spouse) and then an alternative representative (e.g. an adult child).
The benefits of establishing a representation agreement are clear – the people who you love and trust most are legally guaranteed to be the ones who make very sensitive healthcare decisions for you, should you ever lose the ability to make them yourself. This includes some of the biggest health-related decisions of all, such as end-of-life treatment options and ending of life support.
What’s the difference between an advance directive and a representation agreement?
Advance directives will be followed by medical practitioners, provided that the document actually pertains to the situation you find yourself in - i.e. its usefulness is determined by its terms. For example, if the advance directive provides in-depth instructions about what to do with your organs in the event of a car crash, but where you actually find yourself is incapacitated due to a rare form of cancer, then suddenly the advance directive becomes worthless.
For this reason, advance directives are generally thought to be less useful than representation agreements because representation agreements empower someone else, who you presumably trust with your life, to make all types of healthcare decisions for you. A representative can follow whatever detailed instructions that you leave for them, but they can also speak with medical practitioners about anything that is not covered in those instructions.
Want to learn more about advance directives and representation agreements? We’re here to guide you. Advance directives and representation agreements are among the many wills-related services we provide. Contact us today using the below form.
