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Advance Directive for Health Care Form - Kentucky
A Kentucky Advance Directive for Health Care is a set of instructions about preferred medical care that takes effect when a patient becomes unable to make decisions. In addition to listing preferences for medical care, the form provides individuals with the option of appointing a health care proxy. A health care proxy - otherwise known as a health care agent or surrogate - is a person who has the authority to make health-related decisions on another person's behalf.
Download a pre-made form through the link below or make your own Advance Directive with our form builder.
If an individual has never had an Advance Directive made, any health care decisions may be made for them by a court-appointed guardian (a spouse, an adult child, an adult sibling, an adult relative or a professional).
There is a difference between this form and a Living Will in Kentucky. A Living Will is a specific type of an Advance Directive for Health Care that becomes effective only in the event of a terminal illness. A Kentucky Advance Directive is defined by § 394.010 and regulated by the KRS Chapter 394 . The document must be signed in the presence of two (2) witnesses over the age of eighteen (18) or a Notary Public.
What Is a Kentucky Advance Directive?
An Advance Directive is a series of forms that specify an individual's medical treatment preferences and become effective if the individual becomes terminally ill, is seriously injured, in the late stages of dementia or in a coma. All of these documents include a Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney - otherwise known as a Health Care Power of Attorney.
- Living Wills are written for health care professionals and specify the types of life-prolonging treatments or procedures to perform if the individual is in a terminal condition or in a persistent vegetative state.
- A Medical Power of Attorney allows the individual to name a health care proxy to make medical decisions if they become unable to make those decisions for themselves. It is important that the designated proxy knows and understands the patient's wishes and preferences and has a written copy of the Advance Directive for Health Care.
How to Write an Advance Directive in Kentucky?
Advance Care planning is a four-step process:
STEP 1 - Electing an agent to make health care decisions on the patient's behalf.
STEP 2 - Expressing wishes about any limitations in medical treatment - CPR, breathing machines, feeding tubes, and antibiotics.
STEP 3 - Making decisions related to organ and tissue donation and stating preferences regarding the funeral, burial and the disposition of remains.
STEP 4 - Signing, dating and witnessing the form according to the applicable Kentucky law. Copies of the completed form should be handed out to the agent, the physician, the patient's family and to the health care facility.
Download Advance Directive for Health Care Form - Kentucky
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