Documenting

A complying advanced care directive is a legally binding document in most states under statute law (and common law). However, before an advanced care directive can be considered to have sufficient authority to be legally binding, there are several conditions that may need to be met:

• Specificity, the advanced care directive should be clear and specific enough to guide all involved in relation to both existing conditions as well as future anticipated conditions.

• Competence, you should be competent to make decisions about your health care at the time of drafting an advanced care directive; this can often entail your capacity to comprehend, retain, and weigh up the relevant information (preferably in consultation with health care professionals) and then decide.