If you get COVID-19 and struggle to breathe, would you want to be put on a ventilator? Whatever your answer, ask yourself another question: Who would make your wishes clear if you couldn’t speak for yourself?

Advance directives — an umbrella term that includes living wills and health care proxies or powers of attorney — are legal documents that all of us need but that many of us don’t have. A living will allows you to tell your loved ones and medical providers what kinds of medical care you want at the end of your life. Health care proxies or powers of attorney allow you to designate someone to make medical decisions for you if you can’t communicate.

In my latest for the Associated Press, why it’s important to have both documents regardless of how healthy you may be right now.