Estate Planning
Advance Healthcare Directive in Georgia
Without this document, Georgia law picks who speaks for you in a medical crisis. That may not be the person you would have chosen.
Here Is What Happens to Your Medical Care When You Cannot Speak for Yourself
An Advance Healthcare Directive is a legal document that gives a person of your choosing legal authority to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to communicate. Without it, Georgia law determines who speaks for you. That person may not be the one you would have chosen.
How Georgia’s Surrogate Law Actually Works
Georgia has a Healthcare Surrogate Act that allows family members to make medical decisions when a patient cannot. The law ranks potential decision-makers in a fixed priority order: spouse, adult children, parents, adult siblings, and so on through seven tiers. The person at the top of that list acts for you, regardless of whether they know your wishes or share your values. You do not get to choose who that is unless you put it in writing.
What Your Healthcare Agent Can Do
The person you name as your healthcare agent has legal authority to communicate with your medical team, consent to or refuse treatment, access your medical records, and make decisions about surgery, medication, life support, and end-of-life care. They can act immediately when needed, without going to court first. They speak with your legal voice when you cannot use your own.
The Instructions You Can Give Your Agent and Your Doctors
Georgia’s Advance Directive for Healthcare combines two functions in one document. The first part appoints your healthcare agent. The second part records your preferences directly: whether you want life-sustaining treatment in specific circumstances, your preferences about artificial nutrition, your wishes about organ donation, and whether you want hospice or palliative care prioritized over aggressive intervention. These instructions guide your agent and bind your medical team.
What an Advance Healthcare Directive Does Not Cover
- It does not cover financial matters. A separate Financial Power of Attorney handles your finances.
- It does not control asset distribution after death. Your will or revocable living trust handles that.
- It does not guarantee every medical wish will be followed. Physicians retain clinical judgment in emergency situations.
- It cannot be created after you lose capacity. You must have legal capacity when you sign.
Who This Is For
Every adult in Georgia should have an Advance Healthcare Directive. Incapacity is not limited to age. A stroke, a severe accident, or a surgical complication can leave any adult unable to communicate. If you have preferences about who makes your medical decisions and what treatment you receive, this document is how those preferences become legally binding. Without it, someone else decides for you.
What The Hive Law Prepares, How the Process Works, and What You Receive
The Hive Law prepares your Advance Healthcare Directive as part of a complete incapacity plan. It works alongside your Financial Power of Attorney to cover both medical and financial decisions. Together, these two documents give your family legal authority to act without going to court.
The Document
We prepare a Georgia Advance Directive for Healthcare that complies with the Georgia Advance Directive for Healthcare Act. The document names your healthcare agent, designates a successor agent, and records your specific instructions for treatment, life support, organ donation, and end-of-life care. We walk through each section with you during your Family Protection Audit before anything is drafted. Nothing is signed until you understand exactly what each provision says and what it means.
How It Connects to Your Incapacity Plan
An Advance Healthcare Directive alone does not complete your incapacity plan. Without a Financial Power of Attorney, your healthcare agent has no authority over your finances. Without both documents, your family is only partially protected. The Hive Law prepares both as part of the same package so there are no gaps. If you already have a revocable living trust, these documents complete the plan.
The Process
Everything is handled over the phone. You do not need to visit our office. We schedule your Family Protection Audit, draft your documents based on your wishes, deliver them for review, schedule a signing call, and store your executed originals in a secure client portal. Most families complete the full process in one to two weeks.
The Guarantee
Your Advance Healthcare Directive must give your agent the legal authority they need, and your instructions must be clear and legally binding. If a hospital or physician refuses to honor the document due to a drafting error on our part, we correct it at no charge. We stand behind every document we prepare.
The Documents
- Financial Power of Attorney
- Advance Healthcare Directive
- HIPAA Authorization
The Implementation
- Document Walk-Through Call
- Signing Instructions
- Executed Originals Package
The Included Services
- Successor Agent Orientation
- Digital Copy in Secure Client Portal
- Post-Signing Checklist
This document is also included in The Complete Family Trust Package. If you are setting up a revocable living trust, all three incapacity documents are included at no extra cost. Ask about bundling during your Family Protection Audit.
Most clients tell us the Family Protection Audit is the most useful conversation they have had about their healthcare preferences in years.
Without a Healthcare Directive
- Georgia law assigns a decision-maker from a ranked list of relatives you did not choose
- Doctors cannot legally follow verbal family preferences without written documentation
- Family members who disagree have no legal way to resolve the conflict without court
- You may receive aggressive life-sustaining treatment you would not have wanted
- Organ donation, resuscitation, and hospice preferences go unrecorded and unenforceable
With a Healthcare Directive
- Your chosen healthcare agent has legal authority to speak for you immediately
- Doctors and hospitals must follow a valid Georgia Advance Directive for Healthcare
- Your agent can make consistent decisions without triggering family conflict
- Your end-of-life preferences are documented and legally binding
- Organ donation, resuscitation, and hospice wishes are in writing before a crisis
How It Works
Schedule Your Family Protection Audit
Book a 60-minute call with Melissa. She reviews your assets, your family situation, and where you are currently exposed.
Melissa Designs Your Plan
She builds your estate plan from scratch based on your specific assets and family. You get an exact quote before you commit to anything.
Review Every Document With Melissa
Before you sign, Melissa walks through every section of your trust with you in plain language. No legal jargon. No confusion about what you are signing.
We Fund and Finalize Everything
We retitle your property, verify every account is correctly aligned with your trust, and make sure your successor trustee knows exactly what to do when the time comes.
Melissa Breyer
Georgia Estate Planning Attorney
Melissa Breyer is a Georgia estate planning attorney who works exclusively on trust-based estate planning and LLC formation. She personally designs every plan at The Hive Law and handles every client consultation herself. Every plan is built from scratch for your specific family, your specific assets, and your specific wishes.
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What Our Clients Say
After my father passed away, my mother had to rely on me and my brother for everything. Dad never set up a trust. It took over a year to sort through probate, and during that time, Mom couldn't access most of their money without our help. I promised myself I would never put my wife in that position. This firm set us up with a trust package that does exactly that. My wife is fully protected. She can access every account, manage every asset, and make every decision on her own from day one. No court involvement. No asking anyone for help. My wife said it's the first time she's felt confident about what would happen if I wasn't here. That alone was worth it.
My biggest fear was that if I died first, my wife would be stuck trying to figure everything out alone. We have accounts at multiple banks, a brokerage account, life insurance, and a house. We got our trust package done with this firm and that fear is gone. Everything is structured so that if something happens to me, she steps right in. No court. No waiting. She will be financially stable and fully in control from day one. They also helped us set up power of attorney and healthcare directives. If you're in the Atlanta area, don't wait.
We had an outstanding experience working with Melissa Breyer to create our Living Trust. From start to finish, she was knowledgeable, professional, and incredibly easy to work with. She took the time to clearly explain every step of the process, answered all of our questions with patience, and made what could have been a complicated task feel straightforward and stress free. We are so grateful for her help and couldn't be happier with the outcome.
We highly recommend Hive Law. They were extremely patient and responsive, answering our many rounds of questions regarding trusts and estate planning. Shawn consistently responded the same day we sent our questions — even while his family was on vacation. Melissa was always available to discuss matters by phone whenever we needed additional clarification. Both are very knowledgeable in estate planning, and we would confidently recommend Hive Law to friends and family.
The Hive Law has been amazing throughout the process of setting up our trust. Every detail is considered and no stone is left unturned. They have been easy and enjoyable to work with. I would absolutely recommend them.
The Hive Law made the entire estate planning and trust process clear, organized, and easy to understand. They took the time to explain everything in detail whether by email or over the phone. Their team was professional, responsive, and truly cared about helping us protect our family and assets. Melissa and Shawn are very nice, patient, and easy to talk to. I highly recommend The Hive Law to anyone looking for knowledgeable and trustworthy estate planning services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Georgia replaced the separate living will and healthcare power of attorney with a single Advance Directive for Healthcare in 2007. The new document combines both functions. It names your healthcare agent and records your specific instructions for treatment. If you signed a living will before 2007, it may still be valid, but a current Advance Directive is better recognized by Georgia medical providers.
You can choose any competent adult as your healthcare agent, including a spouse, adult child, sibling, or close friend. You cannot name your attending physician or an employee of your healthcare facility as your agent while they are providing your care, unless they are related to you. The most important factor is choosing someone who knows your values, can make difficult decisions under pressure, and will follow your documented wishes even when other family members disagree.
Georgia law requires healthcare providers to follow a valid Advance Directive for Healthcare. If a provider objects on moral or religious grounds, they must document that objection and make a reasonable effort to transfer your care to a provider who will follow the directive. Your healthcare agent also has authority to enforce the directive on your behalf. A valid, clearly written directive is your strongest protection.
Yes. You can revoke or update your Advance Healthcare Directive at any time while you have legal capacity. Revocation should be done in writing and communicated to your healthcare agent and your medical providers. If your wishes change, we can prepare a new directive. The new document supersedes the old one. Keep your medical providers and your agent updated with the most current version.
These two documents cover different situations. Your Advance Healthcare Directive gives your agent authority over medical decisions only. Your Financial Power of Attorney gives your agent authority over financial matters. You can name the same person for both roles or choose different people. The Hive Law prepares both documents as part of the same incapacity package so there are no gaps in coverage.
No. Signing an Advance Healthcare Directive does not affect your life insurance, disability insurance, or any other coverage. It is not a change in health status and is not reported to insurers. It is a legal document that records your medical preferences and names a decision-maker. It has no financial consequences beyond the cost of preparing it.
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