Must guardians honor advance directives?

Abstract

A question asked at a recent advance directives seminar brought divided opinions from the attorneys present, resulting in a lively discussion of whether a court-appointed guardian must honor a patient's advance directive. The question is presented in this article with the first of several legal opinions to be published. As background, the Update presents the following discussion of advance directives by Suzanne Mitchell, assistant professor, Loyola University Law School Institute for Health Law.