Healthcare power of attorney and advance directive in Tennessee: one document, two jobs
If you were in the hospital and couldn't speak for yourself, who would decide for you, and would they know what you wanted? In Tennessee one document answers both: it names your healthcare agent, and it writes down your wishes, so your family isn't left guessing.
What the document does, what Tennessee law requires, who decides if you don't have one, and what Vanderpool Law puts into ours. "Living will" is the older name for the wishes part; it's all in here. Written for people who have never done this before.
The question nobody wants to answer
If you were in the hospital and couldn't speak for yourself, who would decide for you?
Your financial agent can't. Tennessee keeps medical decisions separate from money on purpose: the person who holds your durable power of attorney for the bank has no say with your doctors unless you've named them for that job too. Medical decisions take a different document, and in Tennessee that document can do two things at once.
One document does both
Tennessee law lets you put the two things people need into a single advance directive: who decides for you if you can't, and what you want them to decide. The statute says an adult "may execute an advance directive for health care," that it "may include individual instructions," and that it keeps working through your incapacity, which is the whole point. Naming the person is the healthcare power of attorney. Writing down your wishes is what people used to call a living will. We put both in one instrument, in plain English, signed in front of a notary.
Sources: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1802 ("advance directive" means an individual instruction or a power of attorney for health care, and includes a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care); § 68-11-1803(a)–(b) (an adult "may execute an advance directive for health care" that "may include individual instructions" and may name an agent; in writing, signed, and either notarized or witnessed by two competent adults); Tennessee Department of Health, "Advance Directive for Health Care" form, which says on its face that it replaces the old separate forms for a durable power of attorney for health care and a living will.Why you need it
Without it, Tennessee law hands the decision to whoever the hospital can find, in a fixed order: your spouse, then an adult child, then a parent, then a brother or sister, then other relatives, then an adult friend. That may be the right person. It may be the one you'd least want. And even the right person is guessing at what you'd have chosen, at the worst moment of their life. If three grown children disagree, someone has to sort it out at the bedside. The directive takes the guessing away: it names the person you chose, and it tells them, and the hospital, what you decided when you were able to decide.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1806 (when no agent or guardian is available, the supervising health care provider identifies a surrogate, considering the spouse, an adult child, a parent, an adult sibling, any other adult relative, and an adult friend, in that order, with the list of factors the provider weighs).What it does
It names your agent, and two backups. Your agent's authority switches on when your doctor determines you can't make your own decisions, and switches off if you recover. Until then you decide, and nobody else. If your first choice can't or won't serve, the next one steps in without anyone going to court. Getting married later doesn't cancel it; a divorce does cancel a spouse you named.
It says what your agent can do. Consent to, refuse, or stop any treatment, including artificial nutrition and hydration; choose or change your doctors and hospitals; approve tests, surgery and medication; decide about CPR and life support; sign a do-not-resuscitate order; handle admission and discharge; see your medical records and talk to your doctors, which takes a HIPAA release that doesn't expire; apply for benefits; and, after death, decide about autopsy and the handling of your remains. Everything you could decide, your agent can decide, bound by the wishes you wrote.
It writes down your wishes. Whether you want a natural death when there's no reasonable hope of recovery, or life-sustaining treatment regardless; whether you'd want a feeding tube; whether you want comfort care even if it may shorten your life; organ donation; where you'd rather be cared for; and what you want done after you're gone. Your words, in the document, so your agent is carrying out your choices instead of making them alone.
It plans for the worst case. If a court ever had to appoint a conservator of your person anyway, the document nominates your agent, and asks that no bond be required. It revokes any older directive so there's only one. And it asks every other state to honor it, so it travels with you.
Sources: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1803(c) (unless the directive says otherwise, the agent's authority starts on a determination that you lack capacity and ends on a determination that you've recovered it) and (d) (that determination is made by your designated physician); § 68-11-1803(e) (the agent follows your instructions and known wishes); § 68-11-1803(f) (the agent's decision is effective without court approval); § 68-11-1803(g) (an advance directive may nominate a guardian of the person) and § 34-3-103 (the court considers first the person you designated in writing); § 68-11-1803(h) (given effect in Tennessee when signed elsewhere); § 68-11-1804 (revoking a healthcare agent; a divorce revokes a spouse's designation); 45 C.F.R. § 164.508 (a HIPAA authorization). The powers and wishes listed are what Vanderpool Law's own document covers; the statute lets you add, limit or leave out any of them.It comes with a one-page explanation in plain English
What the document is, who it names, when it switches on, and what it says you want, so the people you named can read it in a waiting room and understand it. Because a document your family understands is one the hospital will actually see.
Here's what it looks like in use. A car wreck puts your husband in the ICU, unconscious, on a ventilator. The doctors need decisions. With the directive, you're the agent, the hospital follows what he wrote, and you're carrying out his choices instead of making them alone. Without it, his mother and you may disagree about what he'd want, and the law, not your family, decides who prevails.
An example, not a client. Who prevails without a directive: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1806.The hospital can't use a document it has never seen. The best advance directive in the world does nothing in a safe deposit box. Give a copy to your agent and your backups, give one to your doctor to put in your chart, and keep one where your family can find it in a hurry. Tennessee lets a copy be honored like the original.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1813 (a copy of a written advance directive has the same effect as the original). Where to keep it is our advice, not a statute.What it costs
It depends on your situation: whether you're one person or a couple, whether you need the durable power of attorney too, and whether this is part of a bigger plan like a living trust. That's why we don't print a price. The 30-minute consultation and the plain-English summary come first, at no charge, so you know exactly what you'd be paying for before you decide. If you already have an advance directive or a living will, bring it. Vanderpool Law will review it, complimentary, and tell you straight whether it still says what you want.
Source: our own fee practice. No price is printed here on purpose; the consultation is where your number comes from.| Durable power of attorney | Healthcare power of attorney and advance directive | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Money and property: bills, bank, taxes, the house. | Medical decisions, and your wishes about treatment. |
| Who acts | Your financial agent. | Your healthcare agent. The two can be the same person or different people. |
| When it works | From the day you sign, and it keeps working through incapacity. | When your doctor determines you can't decide for yourself; it stops if you recover. |
| How it's signed | Notarized, so it can be recorded with a deed. | Notarized, or two qualified witnesses. Ours is notarized. |
| Without one | Your family may have to ask a court to appoint a conservator. | The hospital identifies a surrogate from your family, in the order the law lists. |
| Ends | At your death, or when you revoke it. | At your death (except the parts about remains), or when you revoke it. |
Nobody plans on a hospital bed. You can plan on who speaks for you from it. Call Vanderpool Law and spend 30 minutes on it while you still can.
Questions people ask
Open what you want. It's all on the page for search engines and AI assistants too.
What's the difference between a living will and an advance directive in Tennessee?
A living will is your written wishes about end-of-life treatment. A healthcare power of attorney names the person who decides for you. "Advance directive" is Tennessee's name for either one or both. The state's own form, and ours, put both in one document, so you don't need two.
Sources: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1802 (definition of "advance directive"); Tennessee Department of Health, "Advance Directive for Health Care" form.Does a healthcare power of attorney need to be notarized in Tennessee?
It needs a notary or two qualified witnesses. Neither witness can be your agent, and at least one can't be a relative. Vanderpool Law uses a notary, so there's no question later about who the witnesses were.
Sources: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1803(b) and § 34-6-203(a)(3) (notary or two competent adult witnesses, neither the agent, at least one not related by blood, marriage or adoption).When does my healthcare agent's authority start?
Unless your directive says otherwise, when your doctor determines you can't make your own medical decisions, and it ends if you recover. That's how Tennessee's statute works and how ours is written. As long as you can decide, you decide.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1803(c).Can my agent override what I wrote?
No. Your agent has to follow your instructions, and where you didn't leave one, has to decide the way you would have. The wishes you write are the limits on the person you name. That's why we write them down in one document instead of trusting memory.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1803(e) ("An agent shall make a health care decision in accordance with the principal's individual instructions, if any, and other wishes to the extent known to the agent"). Our wording.Is a DNR the same thing?
No. A do-not-resuscitate order is a medical order your doctor signs, usually in a hospital or nursing home. Your advance directive is your own document, signed ahead of time, and it can tell your agent whether to consent to a DNR for you. The two work together; one doesn't replace the other.
Source: Tennessee Department of Health, "Advance Directive for Health Care" form and its instructions; how DNR orders are issued is our general description, not a statute cite.Can I revoke or change it?
Yes, any time you can make your own decisions. Tennessee lets you revoke your agent in a signed writing or by telling your doctor, and a divorce automatically revokes a spouse you named. Getting married doesn't cancel it. Then sign a new one, and give copies to everyone who had the old one.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1804.Does my financial power of attorney cover medical decisions?
No. Tennessee keeps the two apart. The financial agent can't make health care decisions except as they touch your money. You need both documents; most people sign them the same day. The durable power of attorney has its own page.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 34-6-108(c).Will Tennessee honor an advance directive I signed in another state?
Yes, if you signed it while living in that state and it complies with either that state's law or Tennessee's. Ours asks other states to do the same for you. If you've moved here, bring the old one; Vanderpool Law will review it, complimentary, and tell you whether it still says what you want.
Source: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-11-1803(h) (an advance directive executed outside Tennessee by a nonresident at the time is given effect here if it complies with this part or the law of the principal's state of residence). The review is our complimentary service.