Common Incapacity Documents
| Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPAHC)/Health-Care Proxy |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
- Is flexible–allows your representative to act on your behalf and make medical decisions based on current circumstances
- Generally, your representative can make any decision you would be allowed to make
- Generally can be used any time you become incompetent
| - Not practical in an emergency–your representative must be present to act on your behalf
- Not permitted in some states
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| Living Will |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
- Allows you to convey decisions regarding your medical care without relying on any one person to carry out your wishes
| - Generally can be used only if you are terminally ill or injured, or in a persistent vegetative state
- Generally used only to make decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments
- Emergency medical personnel generally cannot withhold emergency care based on a living will
- Not permitted in some states
|
| Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
- Allows you to decline CPR if your heart or breathing fails
- Effective in an emergency–your doctor should note an in-hospital DNR order on your chart. Out-of-hospital DNR orders take various forms, depending on the laws of your state. ID bracelets, MedicAlert ® necklaces, and wallet cards are some methods of noting DNR status.
| - Some states allow DNR orders only for hospitalized patients–others do not restrict eligibility
- Only used to decline CPR in case of cardiac or respiratory arrest
- Not permitted in some states
|
| Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) |
| Advantages | Disadvantages |
- You control who acts and what they can do with your property
- Low cost to implement
- Decreases the chance of court intervention
| - Some states do not permit a “springing” DPOA (i.e., a DPOA that is effective only after you have become incapacitated)
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