Make your health care wishes known
Create a Louisiana health care directive with FindLaw’s attorney-created forms and easy step-by-step process.
Choose your Louisiana health care directive options
Make your health care wishes known so you stay in control of your treatment with a health care directive. Ensure comprehensive protection for you and your loved ones and secure your future with an estate planning forms package.
Health Care Directive
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The benefits of having a Louisiana health care directive
A health care directive specifies your wishes for end-of-life care and life-sustaining treatment. It prevents confusion, puts your family at ease, and directs your health care team. FindLaw’s quick and easy process allows you to create a finished document in accordance with Louisiana law in under an hour.
FindLaw provides everything you need:
How it works
The process takes less than an hour, and you can complete it from the comfort of your home.
Create an account
Create a secure account which is accessible through an easy dashboard you can access any time
Gather information
Decide who will be your health care agent/proxy, which treatments you would request or refuse and release your records
Complete your document
Answer all questions, then we’ll generate your digital documents for downloading, printing, and signing
Make it legal
Print and sign your document according to instructions. Give copies to your doctors and agent/proxy
Plan for your future with confidence
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Gather critical information with an estate planning checklist
What’s next to make my Louisiana health care directive valid?
Follow these steps:
Choose your agent
Choosing your health care agent or health care proxy is a crucial decision you must make before finalizing your health care directive. You should choose a person who is trustworthy and decisive. They must be comfortable strictly adhering to the wishes you express in your health care directive.
You should also consider choosing an alternate agent should your primary agent be unable or unwilling to perform the duties that you have requested. An alternate agent should also be trustworthy, decisive, and a good advocate.
State your medical treatment preferences
The purpose of drafting a health care directive is to make crucial health care decisions for yourself while you are mentally and physically able to do so. You should have a health care directive so that if the time comes when you cannot speak for yourself, your loved ones and health care provider will already know what to do.
Some medical treatment preferences that you may want to consider when completing your health care directive include:
- Use or withdrawal of life support treatment
- The use of comfort care
- What, if any, surgical treatment you desire
- Use of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation
- Life-sustaining procedures
- The use of aggressive treatments
Signing requirements
In Louisiana, a health care directive must be signed by the principal (you) and two witnesses who certify that they saw you sign it. The document does not have to be notarized.
Common questions about Louisiana health care directives
A health care directive is a legal document that allows you to state with certainty what life-sustaining procedures you desire. Suppose you are temporarily or permanently unconscious and cannot express your wishes. In that case, a health care directive goes into effect. This document speaks for you when you are unable to speak for yourself.
In Louisiana, an advance directive document must be:
- Signed by a declarant who is over the age of 18
- Signed by two witnesses that viewed the declarant’s signature
Adults can also make valid oral or nonverbal declarations so long as the declarations were made:
- In the presence of two witnesses
- By any nonwritten means of communication
- Subsequent to a diagnosis of a terminal and irreversible condition
Every person 18 years or older should have a health care directive. Also known as a living will or advance directive, this document is an essential part of health care planning and your larger estate plan. FindLaw’s do-it-yourself options help you complete this important legal document in the comfort of your own home quickly and inexpensively.
A living will, also known as a health care directive, is a legal document that states your medical treatment preferences for end-of-life care.
A durable power of attorney is a legal document that appoints a person to take care of various affairs of the declarant. The types of affairs that the durable power of attorney covers may include financial, the right to enter into contracts, and health care decisions.
Louisiana state law does not require you to hire an attorney to complete a legally valid health care directive. FindLaw’s simple, step-by-step process will provide you with all of the information you need to create your own.
FindLaw is not a law firm, and the forms are not a substitute for the advice or services of an attorney. Some people do prefer to have an attorney review or help create a health care directive. This can be beneficial if you anticipate disagreement from family members, for example, or if you have other concerns or questions.
You may want to speak with a lawyer if:
- Your family disagrees with your medical choices
- You don’t know who to appoint as your agent
- You have questions about life prolonging measures
- You want legal review of your completed document
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