Burke, Virginia · Wills & Estate Planning
An advance medical directive names the person who makes your health care decisions if you cannot speak for yourself, and it writes down your wishes about life-prolonging treatment. In Virginia, any adult who can make an informed decision may sign one in front of two witnesses. In Burke, it puts a trusted person, not a hospital or a court, in charge of your care. It is the document families most wish they had when a sudden crisis hits.
By Corrie Sirkin, Esq. · Founding Partner, NOVA Legal Professionals
This article is one part of our larger estate planning guide. For the full picture, start with our cornerstone, Wills and Estate Planning in Virginia. Here, I will focus on the advance medical directive and the protection it gives your family in Burke.
What an advance medical directive does
An advance medical directive is the health care side of your plan. It does two things. It appoints a health care agent, the person allowed to make medical decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. And it records your own wishes about the care you do and do not want. Together, those two parts mean that if you are ever unconscious or unable to communicate, the people treating you know who speaks for you and what you would have chosen. You can read more on our advance medical directive page.
Two parts: your agent and your wishes
The first part is about who. You name a health care agent, and ideally a backup, someone calm and reliable who can hear hard information from doctors and make decisions under pressure. The second part is about what. You can state your wishes on life-prolonging treatment, pain management, and the kind of care you want near the end of life. You can be as specific or as general as you like. Naming the right person matters even more than spelling out every scenario, because no document can predict every situation, but a trusted agent can.
When it takes effect
Your directive does not hand control to anyone while you can still speak for yourself. Under Virginia’s Health Care Decisions Act, it takes effect only when your attending physician determines that you are incapable of making an informed decision about your care. Until then, you remain fully in charge of your own treatment. The directive simply waits in the background, ready for the moment it is needed, and steps aside again if you recover the ability to decide for yourself.
It Is Separate From Your Financial Power of Attorney
People often assume one document covers everything. It does not. Your financial power of attorney handles money. Your advance medical directive handles health care. They name agents for different jobs, and the same person can serve in both roles or not. We also recommend pairing your directive with a HIPAA authorization so your agent can actually get the medical information they need to decide. The pieces work as a set.
Need an advance medical directive in Burke?
Tell me who you would trust with your medical decisions, and I will help you put a directive in place. The first conversation is easy and there is no pressure.
End-of-life wishes and organ donation
This is the part people avoid, and it is the part that spares families the most pain. Stating your wishes about life-prolonging treatment means your loved ones are not left guessing, or arguing, about what you would have wanted in an intensive care unit. A Virginia directive can also record your decision about organ, tissue, and eye donation. Writing these wishes down is not morbid. It is a gift to the people who would otherwise carry the weight of guessing on your behalf.
Where to keep it and who needs a copy
A directive only helps if it can be found. Give a copy to your health care agent and your backup, share one with your regular doctor, and keep your own copy somewhere accessible, not locked in a safe deposit box you are the only one who can open. Virginia also runs an Advance Health Care Directive Registry where you can file it so hospitals can locate it. We help you get copies to the right hands so the document is there when the moment comes.
How we help in Burke
We draft an advance medical directive that names your health care agent and backup, records your wishes in plain language, and addresses organ donation if you choose. We pair it with a HIPAA authorization, coordinate it with your power of attorney and will, and make sure the right people have copies. We serve people across Burke and central Fairfax County. You can read more on our advance medical directive page.
“The advance directive is the one document that speaks for you when you cannot. It is a kindness to your family as much as a plan for yourself.”
Corrie Sirkin, Esq. · Founding Partner
Corrie’s Honest Counsel
Choose a health care agent who can stay steady under pressure, because that choice matters more than predicting every medical scenario. Write down your wishes about life-prolonging care, since it spares your family from guessing at the worst moment. And make sure the people who need it have copies, because a directive no one can find does no good.
An advance medical directive puts a trusted person in charge of your care and takes that impossible weight off your family, which is exactly what it is for.
Authoritative References
Sources
- Code of Virginia, § 54.1-2981 et seq. The Health Care Decisions Act, which governs advance medical directives in Virginia.
- Code of Virginia, § 54.1-2983. Sets the procedure for making a written advance directive, signed before two witnesses, including appointing an agent and stating wishes.
- Code of Virginia, § 54.1-2986. Addresses how decisions are made and when a patient is determined incapable of making an informed decision.
- Virginia Advance Health Care Directive Registry. A state registry where a directive may be filed so health care providers can locate it.
Virginia authority verified as of June 2026. Every estate plan turns on your own family and assets; confirm the current rules and what fits your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an advance medical directive do?
It names a health care agent to make medical decisions for you if you cannot, and records your wishes about life-prolonging treatment and end-of-life care. It can also address organ donation.
When does an advance directive take effect?
Only when your attending physician determines you are incapable of making an informed decision about your care. Until then, you remain fully in charge of your own treatment.
Is this the same as a financial power of attorney?
No. The advance medical directive covers health care decisions. A financial power of attorney covers money. They are separate documents and can name the same agent or different ones.
How many witnesses does a Virginia advance directive need?
A written advance directive must be signed in the presence of two witnesses. We handle the signing so it is done correctly.
When You Are Ready
Let’s put your advance directive in place in Burke.
Tell me who you would trust with your medical decisions, and I will help you put a directive in place. The first conversation is easy and there is no pressure.