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A do not resuscitate (DNR) order is another kind of advance directive. A DNR is a request not to have cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if your heart stops or if you stop breathing. (Unless given other instructions, hospital staff will try to help all patients whose heart has stopped or who have stopped breathing.)

This means that your health care provider and proxy will do their best to respect your advance directives, but there may be circumstances in which they cannot follow your wishes exactly. For example, you may be in a complex medical situation where it is unclear what you would want.

While each state has its own unique paperwork that is appropriate for citizens of that state, there are two general types of DNR orders that are most common across the country: do not resuscitate in hospital and do not resuscitate out of hospital.

This order typically starts with the spouse, followed by adult children, parents, and then adult siblings, though specific laws vary by state. In Missouri, there is no established legal hierarchy of family members or friends who are automatically designated to make healthcare decisions for an incapacitated patient.

Missouri requires that the durable power of attorney for healthcare decisions be notarized. Keep a card in your wallet stating you have an advance directives and where to find it. Give your healthcare providers copies of your medical records at the hospital and doctor's office.

In most states, the default surrogate decision maker for adults is normally the next of kin, specified in a priority order by state statute, typically starting with the person's spouse or domestic partner, then an adult child, a parent, a sibling, and then possibly other relatives.

A living will is simply one type of advance directive. Recent court cases have made it clear that people have the right to make other types of advance directives that exceed the limitations of the living will statute.

Though many healthcare facilities and providers may create a hierarchy within the class of family members and place the spouse at the top, there is no exclusive legal right for a spouse to make healthcare decisions for his or her incapacitated spouse.

Traditionally, there are two main kinds of advance directives: the living will and the Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare. The state California also allows the use of a POLST (Physician's Orders For Life‑Sustaining Treatment).