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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 Maryland court to appoint a guardian, which takes time and expense.
The core Maryland documents
Power of attorney for finances
Authorizes an agent to handle your finances and property; the agent acts in accordance with your reasonable expectations, in your best interest and within the authority granted, loyally and with a record of all receipts, disbursements and transactions (Est. & Trusts § 17-113). The agent may exercise your powers to revoke, amend or distribute a trust only where both the trust and the power of attorney expressly authorize it (Est. & Trusts § 14.5-602(e)) — so who you name, and what you grant, matters.
Your health care agent, and who decides without one (Health-Gen. § 5-605)
A written or electronic advance directive, signed in the physical or electronic presence of two witnesses, may appoint an agent to make health care decisions for you (Health-Gen. § 5-602). Without one, a health care provider may rely on, in order, a guardian, your spouse or domestic partner, an adult child, a parent, an adult brother or sister, and a friend or other relative who meets the statute's conditions (Health-Gen. § 5-605).
Your treatment wishes in the advance directive (Health-Gen. § 5-602)
The same advance directive may state the health care you authorize or refuse, including life-sustaining procedures — dated, signed and witnessed as the statute provides, with at least one witness who is not knowingly entitled to part of your estate or a financial benefit from your death (Health-Gen. § 5-602).
Guardian nomination & HIPAA authorization
If a guardianship ever becomes necessary, a Maryland court hears it; an advance directive names who decides your health care, and 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 Maryland
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 Maryland attorney can prepare directives that fit you.
General information about Maryland law, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a Maryland advance directive?
- A competent individual's written or electronic directive about the provision, withholding or withdrawal of health care, which may appoint a health care agent; without one, any authentic expression of the individual's wishes made while competent is considered (Health-Gen. § 5-602(a)).
- Who decides health care in Maryland without a directive?
- For a patient certified incapable of an informed decision with no available agent, the statute lists the surrogates in order — a guardian, the spouse or domestic partner, an adult child, a parent, an adult sibling, and a friend or other relative who meets its conditions (Health-Gen. § 5-605(a)).
- What does a Maryland agent under a power of attorney owe?
- To act in accordance with the principal's reasonable expectations as known and otherwise in the principal's best interest, with care, competence and diligence, within the authority granted — and, unless the power provides otherwise, loyally, without impairing conflicts and with a record of every receipt, disbursement and transaction (Est. & Trusts § 17-113).
General information about Maryland law, not legal advice.