Veterans and Psychiatric Advance Directives

A psychiatric advance directive (PAD) is a legal document that documents a person’s preferences for future mental health treatment, and allows appointment of a health representative to interpret those preferences during a crisis. PADs may be drafted when a person is well enough to consider preferences for future mental health treatment and can be used when a person becomes unable to make decisions during a mental health crisis.

Texas RioGrande Legal Aid may be able to help you draft a PAD if you live in their service area. The Texas Veterans Legal Aid Coalition is comprised of thirteen legal aid organizations who provide a variety of legal services to veterans in Texas. For help, contact the organizations who serve your county. Click here for a complete list of the organizations and the counties they serve.

Please visit theTexas Veterans Videos page. Click here.

The statute can be found here and the copy of a PAD template can be found here.