Today, April 16th, is National Healthcare Decisions Day, when you are encouraged to a) decide what kind of medical care you would want if you can't speak for yourself, b) talk to your loved ones about it and c) put your wishes writing in the form of advance directives.

AG Nixon has a free publication, Life Choices, that can help you get that process started. It contains all the legal forms you need to complete your advance directive - including the durable power of attorney. That document allows you to name an agent (doesn't have to be a lawyer, despite the name) to make decisions for you if you're incapacitated. Our office partnered with the Missouri End-of-Life Coalition to publish Life Choices.

And if you're thinking this is an issue for seniors, think again. Everybody 18 or older needs this done. Any of us could be critically injured tomorrow and unable to speak for ourselves. Think of the three most famous people without advance directives who needed them - Nancy Cruzan, Christine Busalacchi and most recently Terri Schiavo. All three were young women at the time of their injuries. If they have put their wishes in writing before their injuries, there's a good chance those epic battles could have been avoided.

One final note: While Missouri has a living will statute, most experts in this field consider the advance directive and durable power of attorney to be much more powerful documents, legally speaking. That's why we don't even include the living will in the document packet in Life Choices.