Once you have made a health care directive there are steps you can take to make sure your wishes are followed and also ways to change or end a directive.
It is important to keep your directive in a place where it can easily be found when you need health care. You may want to have a copy in your wallet and give copies to your proxy, your doctor and family members.
You can cancel a health care directive either orally or in writing. You may also destroy it, or make a new directive, which will cancel your old directive.
A directive will not be in effect while you are capable of making and communicating health care decisions.
Your directive gives instructions to anyone who is treating you. If you are being treated for something that you dealt with in your directive your wishes must be followed. If it is not something you dealt with your directive will be used as guide. If you named a proxy they will make the decisions if you have not dealt with the situation.
If a dispute arises, an interested person may apply to the Court of King's Bench to challenge the appointment of a proxy or a decision made by a proxy or nearest relative.
PLEA can provide you with information to help you understand many legal matters you, a family member or friend may be facing.