Living Wills & Advance Directives Lawyers in Utah

One Document for Your Medical Wishes and Decision-Making

The Utah Advance Health Care Directive combines two functions in one document: a living will that records your medical treatment preferences and a health care power of attorney that appoints someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. Unlike a last will and testament, which directs how property is distributed after death, an advance directive applies during your lifetime when you can’t make or communicate health care decisions.

O ur advance directives lawyers prepare these documents as part of a coordinated estate plan. By r

eviewing your directive alongside a will, trust, and financial power of attorney, we can identify conflicting terms and clarify who holds authority over medical, financial, and estate matters.

What a Utah Advance Health Care Directive Can Address

An advance directive lets you appoint a health care agent and record instructions about future care. A health care agent, sometimes called a medical power of attorney, is the person authorized to make covered medical decisions if you lose decision-making capacity.

Your directive can address decisions involving:

• Life-sustaining treatment: Preferences concerning ventilation, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, dialysis, tube feeding, and the withholding or withdrawal of treatment.
• Comfort care: Instructions about pain relief and other measures intended to maintain comfort.
• Mental health treatment: Directions and limits concerning covered mental health care.
• Medical information: Authority for your agent to receive records needed to evaluate treatment choices.
• Additional decisions: Preferences about organ donation, admission to a facility for mental health treatment, and long-term nursing home placement.
• Future representation: Nomination of a guardian if a court later determines that one is necessary.

You can expand or limit your agent’s authority within the bounds of applicable law, and you can name an alternate agent who can serve if your first choice is unavailable, unwilling, or unable to act.

An advance directive isn’t the same as a POLST form. A POLST form is a medical order generally intended for people who are seriously ill or medically frail. An advance directive records broader wishes and appoints a decision-maker for a wider range of circumstances.

Signing and Activating an Advance Directive

An adult must be of sound mind when creating a directive, meaning the person understands the document’s nature and effect. Under Utah’s Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, appointing a health care agent must be done in a signed, witnessed written record. Treatment preference instructions may be given orally, but clear written documentation makes your wishes easier to identify when care decisions arise.

Witness Requirements

A written directive naming a health care agent must be signed by an adult witness. Under current Utah law, that witness can’t be the agent you are naming, the agent’s spouse or cohabitant, or, if you live in or receive care in a nursing home or assisted living facility, an owner, operator, employee, or contractor of that facility. Similarly, an owner, operator, employee, or contractor of such a facility generally can’t serve as your health care agent unless that person is a family member, your cohabitant, or a descendant of your cohabitant. We can review your proposed agent and witness before signing to confirm the selections meet applicable requirements.

When the Directive Takes Effect

Decision-making authority generally begins after a physician, psychologist, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse determines that the person lacks health care decision-making capacity. The precise effect of a directive depends on its language, the incapacity determination, and the medical circumstances at the time.

Medical Decisions Without a Directive in Utah

Without an appointed agent, state law uses a default surrogate hierarchy to identify who may make health care decisions on your behalf. Utah’s Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act looks first to anyone you’ve specifically identified for this role, then to a spouse, an adult child or parent, a cohabitant, an adult sibling, and an adult grandchild or grandparent before moving to other close relatives or a friend who has shown particular care and concern and is familiar with your personal values.

The person the law selects may not be the person you would have chosen. Family members may also disagree about your wishes or who should speak for you. If no eligible person is available and willing to serve, a court-appointed guardianship may be required before certain decisions can be made, taking time that families may not have.

Choosing a Health Care Agent and Coordinating Your Plan

A suitable health care agent should understand your values, be willing to serve, and be capable of making difficult decisions under pressure. Before naming someone, discuss your treatment preferences with them and confirm they’re comfortable carrying those preferences out. Naming an alternate agent ensures someone is ready to step in if circumstances change.

A financial power of attorney is a separate document. It authorizes financial decisions but doesn’t grant medical authority, just as a health care directive doesn’t give an agent control over money or property. We coordinate these documents with wills and trusts so each fiduciary role and source of authority is clearly defined and the documents work together rather than creating conflicting instructions.

Statewide Estate Planning Counsel

Pearson Butler was founded in 2010 and serves individuals and families throughout Utah across more than a dozen practice areas. Our team includes more than 30 attorneys with over 300 years of combined legal experience. That breadth allows us to consider how incapacity planning intersects with probate, tax, business, family, and property concerns, so your directive fits into a complete plan rather than sitting in isolation.

Put Clear Medical Instructions in Place

Schedule a consultation to create a directive that names your preferred decision-makers and records your medical wishes. We can also review an existing document following a marriage, divorce, death, diagnosis, relocation, or change in personal preferences. We offer confidential consultations and flexible scheduling.