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.
Find Out Where You Stand
How a Georgia Advance Healthcare Directive Protects Your Medical Decisions
Without an advance healthcare directive, Georgia hospitals and doctors make medical decisions for you — not your family. This document names the person authorized to speak for you and tells providers exactly what treatments you want in an emergency. Melissa Breyer includes this in every complete estate plan because incapacity can happen at any age.
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 Design Meeting 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 Design Meeting, 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 Design Meeting.
Most clients tell us the Design Meeting is the most useful conversation they have had about their healthcare preferences in years.
Without a Healthcare Directive
With a Healthcare Directive
How It Works
A 15-Minute Call With Shawn
Tell us what is going on with your family. Shawn walks you through your options and what each one costs. Free.
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 document with you in plain language. No legal jargon. No confusion about what you are signing.
Your Plan Is Complete
Melissa delivers your completed documents and explains exactly what your family needs to do. You leave knowing your plan is in place and your family is protected.
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 and drafts every plan at The Hive Law after the initial call. 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 my father's employer to navigate the estate. It was a disaster. After this experience, I knew I needed a plan. I turned to The Hive Law to set up a trust. I no longer have to worry about my wife and children going through a difficult process if something happens to me. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
My biggest fear was that if I died first, my wife would have no idea how to navigate the estate and legal system. I reached out to The Hive Law and they put my mind at ease immediately. Their process is easy to follow and they took care of everything. The Hive Law is the best decision I've made for my family's future.
Working with Melissa Breyer to set up our Living Trust was a wonderful experience. She and her entire team were knowledgeable, professional, and made the whole process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law for all your estate planning needs!
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, which we greatly appreciated. Shawn was also always available to discuss matters by phone whenever we needed additional clarification on the options we were considering. Both are very knowledgeable in estate planning, and we would confidently recommend Hive Law to friends and family.
The Hive Law made the entire estate planning and trust process easy to understand and stress-free. Melissa and Shawn walked us through every step and answered all of our questions. We feel confident that our family is protected. Highly recommend!
My mom chose The Hive firm to help with estate planning and developing a trust to protect her assets. I sat in on her meeting with Melissa, and Melissa did a great job of simplifying complex legalese into easily understood concepts. Shawn was very quick to get us our documents and all steps in the process were clear and easy. They make a great team and we are thankful for their help!
I used The Hive Law to help me create a trust for my family. The process was straightforward and Melissa and Shawn made sure I understood each step. They were responsive to all of my questions. I feel much more confident about my family's future now. Highly recommend!
Working with Shawn and Melissa at The Hive Law has been an excellent experience. They were one of three firms we contacted, but she made the strongest impression during our initial call. They asked great questions to understand our situation and clearly explained what we needed to put in place. We initially had some reservations about their fully virtual approach, but those concerns were quickly put to rest. After the first two calls, it was clear how easy they are to work with and how well connected we felt. Communication has been clear, organized, and reassuring throughout the process. Shawn and Melissa are professional, approachable, and thorough. We feel confident we're in good hands and highly recommend The Hive Law for estate planning.
The Hive Law Firm, and specifically Melissa, has been wonderful to work with during our estate planning process. She is knowledgeable, patient, and thorough. She answered all of our questions and made the process easy to understand. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
Shawn and Melissa were amazing to work with! My partner and I recently bought a house and wanted to get important things like wills, healthcare directives, etc. set up. They were incredible at answering all our questions and working with us to make sure we felt confident in all of the legal aspects. Having tried to do this online before with one of the DIY tools, it was just an amazing experience to get to talk through what we wanted with a knowledgeable human and have them take care of the details.
Hive Law was awesome to work with! Melissa and Shawn explained everything, kept things stress-free, and were always quick to respond to my questions. They made the whole process simple and smooth from start to finish. Highly recommend if you want a team that's knowledgeable but also easy to work with.
I lost my father in February of this year without any estate planning in place. The process of dealing with the probate court has been overwhelming and expensive. After this experience, I contacted The Hive Law to set up a trust so my children never have to go through what I've been through. Melissa and Shawn were compassionate, knowledgeable, and made the entire process simple. I highly recommend The Hive Law!
I used to know the bare minimum about probate and trust. I first encountered Shawn Breyer on Facebook. He was offering a webinar that I watched. That gave me a better understanding of probate versus trust. I was impressed enough to have him and his wife represent me. I had my initial one on one interview with Melissa Breyer, it went smoothly and she made everything clear. We are now proceeding with getting a revocable trust in place.
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! Don't let your estate be turned over to Probate!!
The Hive Law helped us set up a revocable trust. Their webinar is great for answering any questions you may have, to clarify and avoid probate. Get in touch with them right away, you won't be disappointed.
Melissa was great! She gave me an honest review of my future plans that I already have in place. Turns out, I already had my ducks in a row!!! She was a pleasure to talk with!!
For several years now I have been thinking about having a will drawn up, but continued to procrastinate until an older sibling had a medical situation occur which none of the family was prepared for. This was the determining factor for me to get it done. We never know when an emergency medical situation could arise and I didn't want my other siblings to be scrambling around trying to figure things out in the event I couldn't make any decisions for myself, or God forbid I pass away. My attorney (Melissa), was very funny and made the whole experience quite entertaining. She listened to what I wanted and explained the type of plan I needed. Thanks Melissa & Shawn for making the process an enjoyable experience.
The Hive Law Firm did an excellent job helping my mother-in-law with her estate plan. The process felt overwhelming at first, but their team walked us through every step with compassion and professionalism. They listened to our concerns, explained things in simple terms, and made sure our mother's wishes were honored. We're very grateful for their guidance.
The Hive Law firm did an outstanding job helping my family members with their estate planning. They made the process clear, smooth and stress free. Truly professional and caring team, highly recommend!
The whole process of creating a family trust felt simple, clear, and stress-free. We really appreciated how patient, helpful, and easy to communicate with the team was throughout everything. Shawn and Melissa gave us great guidance and helped us feel confident every step of the way. We're grateful for their support and would definitely recommend them.
Find Out Where You Stand
You’ve been meaning to do this for a while now. That’s normal. Most families wait until something happens, then wish they hadn’t.
A 15-minute call tells you exactly what you have, what’s missing, and what your family needs next. No paperwork, no obligation, just a straight answer.
- No sales pitch. Just a straight answer about where you stand.
- No confusing terms. We explain everything in plain English.
- A real next step. You’ll know exactly what to do when we hang up.
Where We Serve
Georgia Counties We Serve
We help families across Georgia protect their assets and avoid probate. Select your county to learn more about estate planning where you live.