Your health care directive tells doctors what you want. Your financial power of attorney doesn’t.

A financial power of attorney lets someone handle your accounts. An advance health care directive names who speaks to the doctors, and it writes down your treatment wishes.

Utah treats them as different documents. You want both. One does not cover the other.

Starting January 1, 2026, Utah uses the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, Title 75A, Chapter 9. The optional form is more specific than the old one.

You can name an agent and an alternate. You can say what you want for life-sustaining treatment, food and liquids, and pain relief under different situations. A few powers stay off unless you turn them on.

I walked through the parts in Utah’s new health care directive. That post is the long version. This page is the short one.

If you signed a directive before 2026, and it was valid when you signed it, it can still be valid. The new law says so. You do not have to throw it out.

Updating is worth a look when the old form is vague, or when you want the detail the new form allows. Hospitals are getting used to the newer form. That’s a practical reason, not an emergency.

When you appoint a health care agent, Utah still wants a witness. The witness can be with you in the room. The witness can also join by live audio and video.

Pick someone who will follow what you wrote, even if other people in the family disagree. Tell them you named them.

The complete plan includes a health care power of attorney, the healthcare directive, and a HIPAA authorization so the people you named can see the records.

I don’t sell the directive as a one-page download. Individual plans start at $2,500. Joint plans start at $3,500. The list is on pricing. Start from estate planning or book a consultation.