These documents are available in both Microsoft Word (Word) and Adobe Acrobat (Acrobat). We recommend Adobe Acrobat. Please click below to get a copy.

We recommend the Medical Power of Attorney over a Living Will. Medicine is too complex for any of us to be able to figure out NOW whether medicine will have reached its limits when we become ill in the FUTURE. (Living Wills are directions by patients -- in advance of treatment -- to stop treatment under circumstances that, all too often, are inexactly described. For example, most don't cover Alzheimer's Disease and other progressive illnesses.) The Medical Power of Attorney authorizes someone you trust to make the decision about life-prolonging treatment under the guidelines you have formulated.

While we have encountered abuses through  the use of Financial Powers of Attorney, we believe they are useful documents so long as the persons selected as the agents are trustworthy.

Though not a power of attorney, a do-not-resuscitate order is often used as a companion to a Medical Power of Attorney. A copy of Tennessee's DNR order form may be obtained by clicking here. Other states have their own forms. Unlike the power of attorney forms shown here, a DNR order should follow state guidelines; otherwise it is unlikely to be honored.

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