If you become incapacitated and you don't have specific advance directives, your family members will generally be deemed the appropriate decision makers. Most courts agree that family members are the appropriate decision makers.But, without an enforceable healthcare proxy in place, a healthcare professional who questions the good faith or intentions of family members or strongly disagrees with their medical decisions will not follow the family’s wishes.If, however, a family member has been made your healthcare proxy, healthcare providers must treat those decisions as if you made them yourself. They will not be able to deviate from them just because they may happen to disagree. Thus, proxies are critical tools, especially for anyone whose values differ from those of the healthcare community.