Healthcare Directives and Living Wills in New Jersey

A healthcare directive tells doctors and your family exactly what medical treatment you want — and do not want — if you become unable to speak for yourself. Without one, your family may face impossible decisions during a medical crisis, and doctors may provide treatment you would have refused.

Papa Alpha & Alpha Law in Springfield, NJ helps you create healthcare directives that are legally sound and clearly express your wishes.

What Is an Advance Directive?

An advance directive is a legal document that communicates your healthcare preferences when you cannot communicate them yourself. In New Jersey, advance directives are governed by the NJ Advance Directives for Health Care Act (N.J.S.A. 26:2H-53 et seq.).

There are two main components:

Living Will (Instruction Directive)

A living will states your wishes about specific medical treatments. It typically addresses:

• Life-sustaining treatment — Whether you want ventilators, feeding tubes, or dialysis if you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious.
• Resuscitation — Whether you want CPR if your heart stops (this can also be addressed through a separate DNR order).
• Pain management — Your preferences for pain medication, even if it might hasten death.
• Artificial nutrition and hydration — Whether you want IV fluids or feeding tubes.
• Organ donation — Your wishes regarding organ and tissue donation.

Healthcare Proxy (Proxy Directive)

A healthcare proxy names someone you trust — your healthcare representative — to make medical decisions on your behalf. This person steps in when you are unable to communicate your own wishes.

Your healthcare representative can:

• Consent to or refuse treatment on your behalf.
• Choose your doctors and care facilities.
• Access your medical records.
• Make end-of-life decisions according to your stated wishes.

We recommend having both a living will and a healthcare proxy. The living will provides specific guidance. The proxy gives a trusted person authority to handle situations your living will does not cover.

NJ Requirements for a Valid Advance Directive

Under NJ law, your advance directive must meet these requirements:

• Written and signed by you (or by someone at your direction if you are physically unable to sign).
• Witnessed by two adults who are not your healthcare representative.
• Dated.
• You must be of sound mind when you sign.

NJ does not require notarization for advance directives, but notarizing the document can make it easier for healthcare providers to accept.

When Advance Directives Take Effect

Your advance directive only takes effect when two conditions are met:

1. You are unable to make or communicate your own healthcare decisions. This is typically determined by your attending physician.
2. You have a qualifying medical condition. In NJ, the living will provisions generally apply when you are terminally ill, permanently unconscious, or in a state where life-sustaining treatment would merely prolong dying.

While you are conscious and competent, you make your own medical decisions regardless of what the directive says.

Specific NJ Considerations

Religious and Moral Beliefs

NJ law allows you to include instructions based on your religious or moral beliefs. If your faith prohibits certain medical procedures or requires others, your advance directive can reflect those values.

Pregnant Patients

NJ law includes a specific provision regarding pregnant patients. An advance directive may be rendered ineffective during pregnancy if following it would terminate the pregnancy, unless you specifically address this scenario in the document.

Mental Health Treatment

Standard advance directives may not cover psychiatric treatment. If you want to address mental health care, a separate psychiatric advance directive may be appropriate.

POLST Forms

A Practitioner Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form is a medical order — not a legal directive — that translates your wishes into actionable medical instructions. It is signed by your doctor and is particularly useful for patients with serious illnesses. A POLST works alongside your advance directive, not as a replacement.

Talking to Your Family

Creating the document is only part of the process. You should:

• Give copies to your healthcare representative, your doctor, and close family members.
• Discuss your wishes openly. Your family should understand not just what you decided, but why.
• Keep the original in a safe but accessible place. A hospital safe deposit box does no good in an emergency.
• Bring a copy to the hospital whenever you are admitted.

Updating Your Advance Directive

You can change or revoke your advance directive at any time, as long as you are competent to do so. Review your directive:

• After any major health change or diagnosis.
• After a hospital stay that changed your perspective.
• When your healthcare representative's circumstances change.
• After a marriage, divorce, or other major life event.
• Every few years, even if nothing has changed, to confirm your wishes still stand.

To revoke an advance directive in NJ, you can destroy the document, write a written revocation, or orally revoke it in the presence of a witness.

Do Not Leave Your Family Guessing

Medical emergencies happen without warning. An advance directive removes the guesswork and gives your family peace of mind. It is one of the most caring things you can do for the people who love you.

Call Papa Alpha & Alpha Law at (201) 555-0100 to schedule your free consultation. Our Springfield, NJ estate planning attorneys will help you create directives that reflect your values and protect your wishes.