This document discusses the importance of advance directives in Oregon. It explains that an advance directive allows one to appoint a healthcare representative to make medical decisions if one becomes incapacitated, and to specify acceptance or refusal of life-sustaining treatment. The document outlines the legal requirements for a valid advance directive in Oregon, including using witnesses that meet certain criteria. It stresses getting an experienced estate planning attorney to properly draft an advance directive, to ensure one's wishes will be honored.

1. “When drafted and executed properly, your physician or
other healthcare providers should honor the
decisions made in your Advance Directive.”
RICHARD B. SCHNEIDER
OREGON ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY
OREGON ADVANCE
DIRECTIVES

2. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 2
Thinking or even planning for your own death or incapacity is not
enjoyable, but it is necessary. Failing to plan can have disastrous
consequences. For example, do you have strong feelings about prolonging
your life through the use of life-sustaining measures? Is there someone
specific whom you would want to make important healthcare decisions for
you, should you be unable to make them for yourself some day? Do you
want the ability to decide whether or not you are resuscitated if you have a
terminal illness at some point in the future? If the answer to any of these
questions is “yes”, you need to include an advance directive in your estate
plan, to ensure that your wishes with regard to important healthcare
related matters are honored.

3. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 3
WHY IS AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE NECESSARY?
Most likely, you have discussed your wishes related to things such as end-
of-life treatment with your spouse, parent, or adult child. You may feel that
this discussion is
sufficient to ensure
that those wishes will
be carried out.
Unfortunately, this is
simply not the case. A
physician cannot
disconnect life support
simply because a family
member claims the
patient would not want
to be kept alive on life support. Moreover, what happens if another family
member claims the patient would never want the plug pulled? Sadly, this
happens more often than people realize. When a patient is unable to
express his or her wishes, loved ones often end up in a costly and
protracted legal battle over the right to make those decisions for the
patient. In the end, no one wins. The law does allow you to make your
own end-of-life decisions ahead of time, as well as provide you with the
ability to appoint someone to make decisions for you should you be unable
to make them. However, those decisions must be made in writing in the
form of an Advance Directive. The advance directive must follow very
specific guidelines to be recognized and honored in Oregon.

4. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 4
WHAT IS AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE?
In the State of Oregon an Advance Directive is a legal document that
serves two important functions. First, it allows you to appoint a “Health
Care Representative”. Second, it allows you to decide ahead of time what
type of end-of-life medical treatment you accept or refuse should you be
unable to express your wishes at some point in the future. When drafted
and executed properly, your physician or other healthcare providers should
honor the decisions made in your Advance Directive.

5. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 5
WHAT DOES A HEALTH CARE REPRESENTATIVE DO?
A Health Care Representative is someone who will have the legal authority
to consent to medical treatment on your behalf, in the event that you
become incapacitated. Your Health Care Representative has no authority or
control over your medical treatment until you are declared to be
incapacitated and unable to consent yourself. In addition, your Health Care
Representative cannot override decisions you made yourself with regard to
end-of-life treatment, as long as those decisions are included in your
Advance Directive. Once an individual has been appointed as a Health Care
Representative, that person is locked into making decisions for you should
the need arise. The only way to avoid making those decisions is to resign
as your Representative.

6. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 6
THE “LIVING WILL” PORTION OF YOUR ADVANCE DIRECTIVE
Along with appointing a Health Care Representative, your Advance
Directive also allows you to make what people commonly refer to as a
“Living Will”. This portion of your Advance Directive is where you may
specifically authorize or refuse certain types of medical treatments in
advance. You also have the ability to direct that life-sustaining treatment be
withheld or withdrawn under certain specific circumstances. Those
circumstances include:
Close to death: Terminal illness in which death is imminent with or
without treatment, and where life support will only postpone the
moment of death.
Permanently unconscious: Completely lacking an awareness of
self and external environment, with no reasonable possibility of a
return to a conscious state.
Advanced progressive illness: A progressive illness that will be
fatal and is unlikely to improve.
Extraordinary suffering: Illness or condition in which life support
will not improve the person's medical condition and would cause the
person permanent and severe pain.
At least two physicians, with one being your treating physician, must
confirm that one of the above circumstances exists for life sustaining
treatment to be withdrawn or withheld.

7. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 7
THE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR AN ADVANCE DIRECTIVE IN
OREGON
Your Advance Directive is one of the most important legal documents to
have. Unfortunately, you will not know if it was drafted properly until you
need it , at which point, you will not be capable of fixing any errors in the
creation or execution of the document. Put simply, there is no room for
mistakes in your Advance Directive. Oregon requires two witnesses to
witness you signing your Advance Directive. One witness can be related to
you by blood, marriage or adoption. However, the other witness cannot be
related to you, and should not expect to inherit anything under the terms
of your will or have any claim against your estate. The second witness
cannot be an owner, operator or employee of a health care facility where

8. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 8
you are a patient or resident. Neither your Health Care Representative,
your Agent under an existing Power of Attorney, nor your attending
physician can serve as a witness.
Along with the witness requirements, the content of your Advance Directive
is very important. Vague directions, for example, may not provide the
guidance needed to carry out your wishes. In fact, Oregon requires an
Advance Directive to be in a certain form for it to be recognized by a
physician or court should the need arise.
Given the importance of an Advance Directive, and the specificity with
which one must be created, it is highly recommended that you consult with
an experienced estate planning attorney when you decide to create an
Advance Directive in Oregon.
Oregon State Bar, Advanced Directives
Caring Connections, Advance Directive Planning for Important Health Care
Decisions
Oregon.gov, Advance Directive
Oregon Medical Association, Advanced Directives for Health Care

9. Oregon Advance Directives www.rbsllc.com 9
About the Author
Richard B. Schneider
Before devoting his professional efforts primarily to estate
planning, Mr. Schneider spent over fifteen years working on
Wall Street for major law firms and investment banks. After
graduating from law school, he practiced general civil law
in New York City for five years, specializing in business
transactions, financings and corporate matters. He also
represented major investment banking firms in mortgage
trading and real estate-related matters. Among his clients
were international shipping companies, commercial and
investment banks and institutional lenders, including
General Electric Capital Corporation, Salomon Brothers and
Merrill Lynch.
For the next ten years Mr. Schneider served as Senior Vice President at the investment
banking firm of Kidder, Peabody, where he managed outside legal counsel for a variety
of large financial transactions between major institutions. He played a central role in the
creation of Kidder, Peabody’s mortgage trading subsidiary and advised and executed
transactions with insurance companies, pension funds and government agencies,
including the Resolution Trust Company.
In 1996 Mr. Schneider established a residence in Portland, Oregon and began his law
practice there in 1997. He has made a long-term commitment to providing first-class
estate planning legal services to families and individuals within the Portland
metropolitan area and the surrounding SW Washington region. His motivations for
moving to the Northwest were several: the natural scenic beauty of the Northwest
landscape, the clean air and streets, the healthy, diversified economy and the overall
high quality of life. Mr. Schneider is very grateful for the warm reception he has received
from Portland/Vancouver and is pleased to have become a respected member of the
Portland/Vancouver legal and business community.
Mr. Schneider is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, the
National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Estate Planning Council of Portland and is
on the board of directors of the the Rental Housing Association of Greater Portland. He
is admitted to practice in Oregon, Washington and New York.
Law Offices of Richard B Schneider, LLC
www.rbsllc.com
2455 NW Marshall St, Suite 11
Portland, OR 97210
Phone: (503) 241-1215