Advance Directives in Severna Park, MD

Legal help with advance directives for Severna Park, Maryland residents from The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon in Towson.

Service areas / Severna Park / Advance Directives

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC provides advance directives assistance for people in Severna Park. The information below explains the issues to discuss with an attorney and connects you with the firm’s original Maryland service guide.

Working with our Towson office from Severna Park

Severna Park is in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC serves this area from 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204. This is the firm’s Towson office, not a separate office in this community.

Maryland law applies throughout the service area. Where a matter must be filed depends on the type of proceeding and the facts, not simply on the location of the attorney’s office. Discuss residence, existing orders, and any pending case at your consultation.

Read the Anne Arundel County service-area guide for the original local context.

An advance directive is the document that says who makes your medical decisions if you cannot, and what you would want. In Maryland it is a single instrument that can do two separate jobs, and most people should use both.

The two parts

Appointing a health care agent

You name a person to make medical decisions for you when you are unable to make them yourself. This is sometimes called a medical power of attorney. Your agent is expected to follow the wishes you have expressed and, where you have not addressed a situation, to act in your best interests considering your diagnosis, values and beliefs.

Naming an agent is the more important half. No document can anticipate every medical situation, but a person who knows you can respond to the one that actually arises.

Treatment preferences, or living will

Written instructions about the care you do and do not want, including how aggressively you wish to be treated and your wishes about life-sustaining measures. This gives your agent and your physicians direction rather than leaving them to guess.

What Maryland requires

For a written advance directive:

Your signature, or someone signing at your direction and in your presence if you cannot sign
Two competent witnesses, signing in your physical or electronic presence
At least one witness must not be someone who would benefit financially from your death or is entitled to any part of your estate
The person you name as health care agent cannot serve as a witness

Notarization is not required in Maryland, though it does no harm. Maryland also recognizes electronic advance directives, and an oral directive made voluntarily in the presence of your physician and at least one witness, when it is documented in your medical record.

When it takes effect

An advance directive operates when you are no longer able to make or communicate your own health care decisions. While you have capacity, you decide, and the document does not override you.

How it differs from a power of attorney

An advance directive covers health care. A power of attorney covers money and property. They are separate documents with different execution requirements, and most people need both. Your financial agent and your health care agent do not have to be the same person, and sometimes should not be.

Making it useful in practice

A directive locked in a safe deposit box helps nobody at 2am. Give copies to your agent, your alternate, your physician and the relevant hospital, and tell your family who you named. Review it after a major diagnosis, a divorce, or the death of the person you named.

Official resources

Talk with a Towson attorney

The Law Office of Thomas K. Mallon, LLC offers a free consultation. Call (410) 847-9075 or request a consultation online. The office is at 1107 Kenilworth Drive, Suite 305, Towson, MD 21204.

This page provides general information about Maryland law. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Maryland law changes, and how it applies depends on the facts of your situation.

Advance Directives resources

Read the full Maryland advance directives guide. Bring relevant agreements, court papers, financial records, and a list of questions that relate to your situation. If you have received papers with a deadline, tell the office when you contact us.

Other services in Severna Park

Discuss your situation

or call (410) 847-9075. Advice about your particular matter requires a consultation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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