Living Wills & Advance Directives in Murfreesboro
Estate Planning That Includes Your Health Care Wishes
An advance directive for health care puts your medical treatment preferences in writing before a crisis makes that conversation impossible. It also names a health care agent, the person authorized to speak for you when you can’t. At Murfree, Goodman & Rosado, PLLC, we prepare these documents as part of a coordinated estate plan, not as a standalone form you complete and file away.
Since 1969, our firm has helped Tennessee families plan for the future through wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives. That history means your living will is drafted alongside every other document in your plan, with each piece reinforcing the others.
If you’re ready to put your health care wishes in writing, call us at (615) 895-7000 to schedule a consultation. We work with families across Murfreesboro and the surrounding area to build estate plans designed to serve them when it matters most.
A Family-Owned Firm With a Personalized Approach
Murfree, Goodman & Rosado, PLLC is a family-owned firm, which means clients work directly with attorneys who take time to understand their situation, their values, and the outcomes they want. Incapacity planning involves decisions that touch every member of a family, and we approach those conversations with care and strategic attention to detail. It’s the combination of clear communication and high ethical standards that Murfreesboro families have relied on for more than five decades.
Tennessee Law on Advance Directives for Health Care
Tennessee’s Health Care Decisions Act (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 68-11-1801 through 1816) governs how advance directives are created, witnessed, and may be honored in this state. Since May 2017, a single Advance Directive for Health Care form has combined what were once two separate documents: a living will stating treatment preferences and a medical power of attorney naming a health care agent. Tennessee law doesn’t require a specific form, but any directive must meet the statute’s signing and witnessing requirements to be valid.
What a Living Will Covers
The treatment instruction portion of an advance directive lets you state your preferences on specific interventions: ventilator use, CPR, kidney dialysis, artificially supplied nutrition and hydration, and comfort or palliative care. You can also include instructions about organ donation. A properly executed directive can give treating physicians documented guidance on your wishes if you become unable to communicate them directly.
One important distinction: a Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment (POST) form is a separate medical order signed by a clinician for patients with a terminal or serious illness. A POST reflects current treatment orders; an advance directive states future wishes and names an agent. They serve different purposes, and having one doesn’t replace the other.
Signing & Witnessing Requirements
For an advance directive to be valid under Tennessee law, it must be in writing, signed by the principal, and either notarized or signed in front of two competent adult witnesses. At least one witness must be unrelated to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption and must not stand to inherit from the principal’s estate. The named health care agent can’t serve as a witness. The document must also include an attestation clause confirming the witnesses meet these requirements.
Naming a Health Care Agent
A durable power of attorney for health care names someone to make medical decisions on your behalf during any period of incapacity. That authority activates only when you can’t communicate for yourself, and the agent must act consistent with your stated wishes and your best interests. You can also name a backup agent in case your first choice is unavailable when needed.
Without a named agent, Tennessee law provides a priority list of potential surrogate decision-makers, typically family members in a defined order. In practice, that process can create delay or disagreement at exactly the moment when clarity matters most. Naming your own agent can reduce that uncertainty.
Keeping Your Directive Current
Tennessee maintains no state registry for advance directives, so distribution is your responsibility. Copies should go directly to your health care agent, your primary care physician, and close family members. If you’re hospitalized, providing a copy at admission can give providers access to your instructions when they’re needed.
A directive can be changed or revoked at any time while you have capacity. Creating a new advance directive generally revokes the prior one to the extent the two conflict, so it’s worth collecting and destroying outdated copies rather than assuming an old directive is automatically void.
Major life events that warrant a review:
- A new diagnosis or significant change in health status
- A change in marital status
- The death or incapacity of a named agent
Advance Directives as Part of Your Complete Estate Plan
A living will and health care directive work best when they’re coordinated with the rest of your estate plan. We bundle health care directives, powers of attorney, comprehensive trust work, and long-term care planning into one cohesive strategy, so your financial documents and your health care documents reflect the same intentions and don’t work against each other.
Murfree, Goodman & Rosado, PLLC has deep roots in Murfreesboro and has served clients across Middle Tennessee, including Smyrna and the broader Rutherford County area, for more than 50 years. Families return to us because they value a plan built with care and precision.
Schedule a Consultation to Draft or Update Your Directive
If you don’t have an advance directive for health care, now is the right time to create one. If you have an older document, it may be worth reviewing to confirm it still reflects your wishes and meets current Tennessee requirements. We help clients put their health care choices in writing and align those documents with the rest of their estate plan.
Call Murfree, Goodman & Rosado, PLLC at (615) 895-7000 to schedule a consultation. We can help you prepare an advance directive that reflects your intentions and fits within a complete plan for your future.