Advanced Care Planning in Missouri

A step by step guide with direct links

Planning ahead helps families know your wishes if you ever become very sick or cannot speak for yourself. These Missouri specific tools make the process easier.

Step 1: Start by Choosing a Health Care Decision Maker

Form: Missouri Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care

  1. Choose someone you trust to make medical decisions if needed.

  2. Talk with them about your values and what matters most.

  3. Fill out the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care form.

  4. Sign it with two witnesses.

  5. Share copies with your agent and your clinicians.

Missouri Bar printable form:
https://missourilawyershelp.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/DPOA-Fillable-2024.pdf

Alternate Missouri Advance Directive packet (Living Will + DPOA combined):
https://www.fitzgibbon.org/Content/Uploads/fitzgibbon.org/files/ADVDIR%20Advance%20Directive%20Packet.pdf

National version of Missouri forms (CaringInfo):
https://www.caringinfo.org/wp-content/uploads/Missouri.pdf

Step 2: Write Down Your Wishes (Advance Directive or Living Will)

Form: Missouri Advance Directive or Living Will

Use your Advance Directive to list your preferences about:

  • CPR

  • Breathing machines

  • Feeding tubes

  • Comfort measures

  • Your values and what matters most at the end of life

Where to find Missouri forms:

Sign the document with witnesses and give copies to your family and your medical team.

Step 3: Talk to Your Clinician About DNR or POLST (If Appropriate)

These forms are usually for people with serious illness or clear limits on medical treatment.

TPOPP/POLST Form - Center for Practical Bioethics

Missouri Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order

  • Completed with a physician or nurse practitioner

  • Indicates you do not want CPR

  • Must be easy to find in the home

Ask your clinician for the Missouri Out-of-Hospital DNR.

TPOPP (Transportable Physician Orders for Patient Preferences)

A portable medical orders form similar to POLST.
2024-TPOPP-Form-FINAL-without-watermark-for-website-edited-11-2024.pdf

  • Completed with your clinician

  • Used for people with advanced or serious illness

  • Recognized by EMS, hospitals, and long term care

Step 4: Use Trusted Planning Tools to Guide the Conversation

Missouri Bar Legal Guides

Clear education on powers of attorney, advance directives, estate planning, and guardianship.
https://missourilawyershelp.org

AARP Missouri

Free state specific documents and checklists.
https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/financial-legal/free-printable-advance-directives/

Prepare for Your Care (National)

Very user friendly worksheets, videos, and step by step guides that make the process simple.
PREPARE

The Conversation Project

Conversation guides for families who want to talk about wishes and values before completing forms.
https://theconversationproject.org

Step 5: Share, Store, and Review

  1. Make copies for:

    • Your health care decision maker

    • Your family

    • Your primary care doctor

    • Your specialists

  2. Ask your clinic or hospital to scan forms into your medical record.

  3. Keep originals in a visible, easy to access place.

  4. Review yearly or after any major health change.

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