To make your healthcare decisions and preferences legal, you should complete an advance directive.  There are three sections of an advance directive.

1. Choosing a healthcare representative. The first section of an advance directive involves choosing your healthcare representative. In Indiana, a healthcare representative is someone chosen by a person to make his or her healthcare decisions, including end-of-life decisions, in the event the person becomes unable to make his or her own decisions in the future.  In most states, a doctor determines if a person is unable to make his or her own decisions.

It is important you choose someone you trust to make healthcare decisions for you should you become unable to make your own decisions in the future.  It is important to think carefully about this decision. There are four qualities you should look for.  A healthcare representative should be willing to:

• • Accept this role.
  • Talk with you about your goals, values, and preferences.
  • Follow your decisions, even if he or she may not agree with them.
  • Make decisions in difficult moments.

Most experts recommend that a person chooses a primary and a secondary healthcare representative.  The secondary representative will make decisions if the first is unable to do so.  Some people may wish to identify multiple healthcare representatives to serve simultaneously; however, this option should be chosen cautiously because of the potential for disagreement and conflict among your representatives. 

If you do not appoint a healthcare representative, Indiana law determines who will make decisions for you.  These persons are called “Proxy Decision Makers,” and they are identified in hierarchical order in the Indiana Code:  IC 16-36-1-5.   To see the hierarchy visit Indiana Advance Directive Forms on this site.

Please note:  As of January 1, 2023, Indiana law no longer recognizes the terms “healthcare power of attorney,” or a “medical power of attorney,” on new advance directives.  However, if advance directive documents utilizing these terms were legally completed prior to January 1, 2023, they do NOT have to be revised.  They are grandfathered and remain legally valid.  

2. Providing a statement of healthcare wishes or preferences. The second section of an advance directive has also been called a “living will,” and can be as brief or detailed as a person wishes. It should at least address the person’s preferences for being kept alive with artificial means if the person has little to no chance of recovering to the point of being able to make decisions for themselves again.  There are many tools available to help people think and talk about the various decisions and choices that might be included in this section of an advance directive.   
    
3. Obtaining legally required signatures in accordance with state law. To be legally valid, an advance directive must be signed and witnessed. Every state has its own laws governing advance directives, and unfortunately, what this means is that an advance directive that is legally valid in one state may not be valid in another state. 
   
   In Indiana, a legally valid advance directive requires your signature, plus signatures from two adult witnesses OR a notary.  One of the two adult witnesses must not be a relative.  If you travel frequently and / or have homes in different states, it is recommended that you obtain signatures from BOTH two witnesses AND a notary so that your advance directive will be legally valid in all states.