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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 an Illinois court to appoint a guardian, which takes time and expense.
The core Illinois documents
Power of attorney for property (the Illinois Power of Attorney Act)
Authorizes an agent to handle your finances and property. Under Illinois's Power of Attorney Act the statutory short form power of attorney for property is signed with the formalities the Act sets, continues through your incapacity, and may take effect at once or on a later date or event you name; the agent may exercise your powers over a trust only to the extent the trust or the power of attorney expressly authorizes it (760 ILCS 3/602) — so who you name, and what you grant, matters.
Power of attorney for health care (755 ILCS 45/4-10)
Names an agent to make health care decisions for you when you cannot make them yourself; the statutory short form is signed by you and one witness, no notary required, and may limit the agent's powers and state your preferences about life-sustaining treatment (755 ILCS 45/4-10). Without an agent, the Health Care Surrogate Act names who decides, in its order of priority (755 ILCS 40/25).
Your treatment wishes: the living will (755 ILCS 35/3)
A living will declaration directs that death-delaying procedures be withheld or withdrawn in a terminal condition; you sign it before two witnesses 18 or older and give it to your physician (755 ILCS 35/3). Where you also have a health care agent, the agent's decision controls to the extent of the agent's authority (755 ILCS 35/3.5).
Guardian nomination & HIPAA authorization
If a guardianship ever becomes necessary, an Illinois court weighs the person you nominated in a power of attorney, and your agent's authority continues alongside a guardian's as the Act provides; 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 Illinois
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 Illinois attorney can prepare directives that fit you.
General information about Illinois law, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a power of attorney for health care in Illinois?
- The statutory short form under the Illinois Power of Attorney Act by which a principal appoints an agent to make health care decisions, signed by the principal and one witness, with no notary required (755 ILCS 45/4-10); a living will directs that death-delaying procedures be withheld in a terminal condition (755 ILCS 35/3) and yields to the agent's authority (755 ILCS 35/3.5).
- Who decides for an Illinois patient who signed nothing?
- A surrogate in the order the Health Care Surrogate Act sets — a guardian of the person, the spouse, an adult child, a parent, an adult sibling and so on (755 ILCS 40/25).
General information about Illinois law, not legal advice.