Estate Planning And Advance Health Care Directives

Advance health care directives let you decide now who will make medical decisions for you, and what treatment you want, if you later cannot decide for yourself. In Colorado, the core documents are a medical durable power of attorney and a living will declaration, often paired with your other estate planning documents.

Here is how these directives work and why they belong in your plan.

Why Directives Belong in an Estate Plan

A will or trust controls property, but neither speaks for you in a hospital. The difference between a will and a trust matters for your assets, while health care directives protect your decisions while you are alive.

Colorado law recognizes an adult’s right to accept or reject medical treatment, including through an agent appointed under a medical durable power of attorney.¹

Medical Durable Power of Attorney

A medical durable power of attorney names an agent to consent to or refuse medical treatment for you, including artificial nourishment and hydration. It can include directions, conditions, or limits on the agent’s authority.²

Colorado presumes you intend your medical durable power of attorney to be recognized as fully as possible in other states.³

Living Will Declaration

A living will records your wishes about life-sustaining treatment. Unless it says otherwise, your medical durable power of attorney does not change the terms of a living will declaration made under the Colorado Medical Treatment Decision Act.⁴

Health care directives are most effective when they are clear and match the rest of your plan. Johnson Law Group offers a no-pressure consultation to prepare them, so schedule a consultation while you can make these choices yourself.

Choosing Your Agent

• Pick someone you trust who will follow your wishes, not their own.
• Name a backup in case your first choice cannot serve.
• Talk with them now about your values and treatment preferences.
• Share copies with your agent and your doctors.

Talk With a Colorado Estate Planning Attorney

Advance directives give your family clarity and spare them hard guesses in a crisis. Johnson Law Group is here to help.

The attorneys at Johnson Law Group prepare medical directives alongside wills and trusts and will give you a clear read on your plan. Schedule a free consultation through our Colorado offices, and we will serve as your North Star from here.

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