Legal: Advance Directives

Advance Health Care Planning

It was a pivotal moment when Pilate asked Jesus if he truly understood that the infamous governor of Judea held control over the Master’s fate. Deftly, Jesus countered Pilate’s assumption, declaring that God alone governed his future. This eternal Truth — that God is our sole governor under all circumstances — is a helpful reminder if you are considering designating someone else to make health care and financial decisions for you should you become unable to speak for yourself.

In general, advance health care planning allows you to give legal direction that makes your wishes known about the type(s) of health care that you would — and would not — want. Generally these documents are referred to as “advance directives.” Although the terminology can vary from state to state, there are three basic types of advance directives:

• A Durable Power of Attorney is a legal document in which you appoint someone to make financial decisions for you in the event of incapacity.
• A Health Care Proxy (sometimes called a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care) is a legal document in which you appoint another person (called the “attorney” or “agent”) to make health care decisions for you by taking into account your views, wishes, values, and beliefs in the event you cannot speak for yourself.
• A Living Will is a written document in which you state what kind of health care you want or do not want in the event you cannot speak for yourself.

The nature of advance directives, the terminology, and the requirements for clearly articulating your choice of health care do vary by state. Preparing these legal documents will require you to answer questions such as:

• Who do you most trust to make decisions about your health?
• What measures should they be able to take on your behalf?
• What measures should they be prevented from taking?

Your answers to these questions are so important. For this reason, you should work with an attorney licensed in your state when developing your own health care planning documents.

If you are interested in including specific language describing the choice of Christian Science care in your advance directive, contact the legal department at The Mother Church for more information: legalinfo@csps.com.

A list of important considerations from both a general and a Christian Science standpoint can be found in the first resource item in this section. Other resources include additional information on advance directives for health care and how and why to create them.

For help thinking through these ideas, please call Caring for Christian Scientists at 800.930.3797.