Enrichment · Life Skills

Your wishes,
where they count.

A directive only helps if the right person has it and knows what you meant. Work through the four documents, name an agent and a back-up, write what matters most in your own words, and see what is still missing before anyone needs it.

Start a directiveWhat you get

Your directives

The worked example is made up: a mother whose living will is twelve years old, with an agent who has never heard her wishes, and a father who has not started. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Enrichment · Life SkillsFree

What you finish with
A record per person: the four documents (living will, health care power of attorney, HIPAA release, POLST where it fits); the agent, an alternate and whether they have talked; what matters most and choices on CPR, a breathing machine, tube feeding and where to be cared for; how and when it was signed; and six places a copy should be. Flags no alternate agent, an agent not yet told, choices not decided, a directive not signed and one over ten years old.
Who it is for
Adults of any age, including young adults turning 18, and families helping a parent or grandparent plan.
Format
Browser guide with a saved record per person. Prints one person’s summary to bring to the doctor or a lawyer, every record in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Life Skills space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Get your state’s official form; the record here organizes it, it does not replace it.
  2. Name an agent and an alternate, and ask them first.
  3. Write what matters most before choosing treatments.
  4. Sign it the way your state requires.
  5. Give copies to the six places listed and review it after big changes.

Start a directive

The four documents

Four papers, four jobsLiving willWhat you want ordo not wantPower ofattorneyWho decides foryouHIPAA releaseWho doctors maytalk toPOLSTOrders foremergency teamsSigned by: the first three by you; POLST by you and a clinician, usually when seriously ill.Four papers, four jobsLiving willWhat you want or do not wantYouPower of attorneyWho decides for youYouHIPAA releaseWho doctors may talk toYouPOLSTOrders for emergency teams+ clinician
Many states combine the living will and the power of attorney into one advance directive form.

Choosing an agent

Pick someone who will follow your wishes even if they disagree, can stay calm in a hospital and can be reached quickly. Many states do not let your doctor serve as your agent. Name an alternate in case the first person cannot act.

When to review

A common rule from the American Bar Association is the five Ds: review it at the start of each new decade of life, after the death of a loved one, a divorce, a new diagnosis, or a decline in health.

Sources

  1. National Institute on Aging. Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care (nia.nih.gov).
  2. American Bar Association Commission on Law and Aging. Consumer’s Toolkit for Health Care Advance Planning (americanbar.org).
  3. National POLST. POLST and Advance Directives (polst.org).
  4. National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, CaringInfo. Advance directive forms by state (caringinfo.org).

The worked example is made up. This page organizes your thinking; it is not a legal form or legal advice, and your state’s own form and signing rules decide what is valid. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.