The goal of making an advance care directive, which is sometimes also called a Living Will, is to make sure that your wishes are known if you can’t speak for yourself. That could happen in the event of a serious accident or illness, at which time family members would have to make important decisions about issues such as life support. When you create an advance care directive, though, you make those wishes clear, so your family knows what to do in those kinds of situations.

However, it’s important to be aware that creating this type of legal document still isn’t a guarantee that all your wishes will be followed. For example, if your doctor doesn’t agree with your requests based on their medical training or even their conscience, they can refuse to comply with them. At that point, their obligation becomes helping transfer you to another doctor for care.

Just like doctors, your family may not agree with what’s in your advance care directive. If the directive is clear and properly created, and if it follows you to any doctor or medical facility in your patient records, it can be hard to override. But you need to be sure you’ve talked with your family about your wishes, too, because they need to know what to do if someone can’t find your directive or your doctor has questions and you’re unable to respond.

Sometimes, family members will ask for additional care above and beyond what you might want, simply because they don’t want to lose you. While that’s definitely understandable, your Living Will should be honored and your medical professionals need to know you have one. You can put it on file with your doctor and local hospital, which will reduce the chances that it will be overlooked or your wishes won’t be followed.

As a legally recognized document, it is there to help your family and the medical community understand what you want and need. There are times, though, when other decisions will be made, and in some cases, the wishes of your family will be taken into consideration. Talking to your doctor and family about what you want is one of the best ways to help ensure your wishes are followed if it’s possible to do so.

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