ABA Family Legal Guide

The Rights of Older Americans

A Right to Control Your Own Affairs

Health-Care Decision-Making Issues

What happens to my right to make medical decisions if I am too sick to decide?

In an emergency, the law presumes consent. In all other instances, someone else must make decisions for you. The best way to ensure that decisions are made the way you would want, and by the person you want, is to do an advance directive for health care before you become incapacitated.