What Happens If You Don't Have an Advance Directive? ✦

Without a named health care proxy, most states default to a legal hierarchy, typically a spouse, then adult children, then parents, then siblings. That means the decision may land on whoever fits that role, not necessarily who you'd have chosen.

The exact hierarchy and rules vary from state to state, and can change. This is one more reason documenting your own choice in advance matters: it removes the guesswork about who decides, no matter what your state's default rule happens to be.

When there's no documented guidance, family members are often left guessing what their loved one would have wanted, sometimes disagreeing with each other in the process. It's rarely about a lack of love. It's almost always about a lack of information at the worst possible time to be missing it.

Most families can complete a full advance directive and health care proxy in one afternoon with a guided process. It's a small amount of time upfront to prevent a much harder situation later.