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Start the free role checkWhat advance directives are
Advance directives are documents you sign while you have capacity that let trusted people make decisions for you — financial and medical — if illness or injury later prevents you from deciding yourself. Without them, your family may have to ask a Colorado court to appoint a guardian or a conservator, which takes time and expense.
The core Colorado documents
Durable power of attorney (C.R.S. §15-14-704)
Authorizes an agent to handle your finances and property. A Colorado power of attorney is durable unless it says incapacity ends it (C.R.S. §15-14-704), and it is effective when signed unless it names a later date or event — such as your incapacity (§15-14-709) — so who you name, and what you grant, matters.
Medical durable power of attorney (C.R.S. §15-14-506)
Names an agent to consent to or refuse medical treatment for you when you lack decisional capacity, following the directions and limits you set (C.R.S. §15-14-506).
Declaration as to medical treatment — a living will (C.R.S. §15-18-104)
Directs that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn if you later have a terminal condition or are in a persistent vegetative state and lack decisional capacity, and may state your wishes about artificial nutrition and hydration (C.R.S. §15-18-104).
Guardian nomination & HIPAA authorization
If a guardianship ever becomes necessary, a Colorado court gives priority to a guardian you nominated — including in a durable power of attorney — and then to your agents under a medical durable or general durable power of attorney (C.R.S. §15-14-310); a HIPAA authorization lets named people receive your medical information. Often added to round out the set.
Why you need these even with a Trust
A revocable living Trust handles the assets inside it, but it does not make medical decisions, and it doesn't cover assets you never transferred in. Advance directives fill those gaps — and together with a will and a Trust, they keep decisions in the hands of people you chose, not a court.
Putting the set together in Colorado
Which directives you need, and how they're worded, depends on your situation, your family, and your wishes. This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check can show you where you stand, and a Colorado attorney can prepare directives that fit you.
General information about Colorado law, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a medical durable power of attorney in Colorado?
- A document in which an adult names an agent to consent to or refuse medical treatment for them, including artificial nourishment and hydration, with any directions or limits the adult adds (C.R.S. §15-14-506).
- Does Colorado have a living will?
- Yes: a declaration as to medical treatment, in which an adult with decisional capacity directs that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn if the adult later has a terminal condition or is in a persistent vegetative state and lacks capacity (C.R.S. §15-18-104).
- Is a health care agent the same as a trustee?
- No. A health care agent decides about medical treatment (C.R.S. §15-14-506); a trustee manages trust property under the trust's terms (§15-5-801). The same person can hold both roles, under different documents.
General information about Colorado law, not legal advice.