What Is a Living Will?

A living will—also known as an advance directive—is a legal document that specifies the type of medical care that an individual does or doesn't want in the event they are unable to communicate their wishes.

Understanding a Living Will

Living wills an🍌d advance directives come into play only when an indꦏividual faces a life-threatening condition and is unable to communicate their desires for treatment.

Every state provides for the drafting of a living will, although some states call the document a medical directive or a health-care proxy. Some st🎀ates let you prepare a detailed, customized living will, while others require you to fill out a standardized form.

What Is Included in a Living Will?

A living will addresses many of the medical procedures common in life-threatening ⛄situations, such as resuscitation via electric shock, ventilation, and dialysis. You can choose to allow some of these procedures or none of them. You can also indicate whether they wish to donate organs and tissues after death. Even if you refuse life-sustaining care, you can express the desire to receive pain medication throughout your final hours.

In most states, you can extend your living will to cover situations where there is no brain activity or where doctors expec🔥t you to remain unconscious for the rest of your life, even if a terminal illness or life-threatening injury isn’t present. Because these situations can occur to any person at any age, it’s a good idea for all adults to have a living will.

How to Make a Living Will

Before making a living will, it's best to understand that it will not serve as a last will and testament, where property and ꦏpersonal effects are allocated to others upon death. A living will stipulates the type an🦂d levels of medical care you receive if you are incapacitated and how long you will receive that care for.

When creat𝔉ing a will, consider how you want to integrate your personal or religious beliefs into the care you receive.

It might be helpful🀅 to segment the living will into categories of care. You could first identify the circumstances in which care should be extended to preserve life and what types of life-saving or preserving c༒are, such as blood transfusions and dialysis, should be administered.

Include a category to address whether you want care if you are in a vegetative or unconscious state. Indicate where you want to receive medical care: nursing home, at home, or in some 🃏other facilꦛity. You can also request how nutrition will be provided.

Another category to consider is pain management. Indicate the types and levels of treatment to maওnage pain. You can further break down this category into life-sustaining pain management and pain management in lieu🧸 of life-sustaining care.

If you have family or friends who will be responsible for ov♑erseeing your care, discuss your plans with them. It might be helpful to include them in the decision-making process as they might have insight into areas otherwise overlooked when planning alone. Lastly, enlist the help of a professional, such as an estate planner or an attorney. These experts can help you make decisions for the best possible outcomes.

Healthcare Proxy

In addition to a living will, you can select a health-care proxy who is allowed to make decisions if you are incapable of making those choices. Some states call this individual a healthcare 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:power of attorney. Living wills cover many medical decisions, but a health-cඣare proxy can consult with the doctor on other issues that may arise.

When facing the loss of a loved one, familꩲies often disagree over treatment, so having a healthcare proxy can reduce ♔confusion over your final wishes. You should discuss wishes with the proxy before naming this person and be sure the proxy is willing to follow through with your desires.

Living Will vs. Living Trust

Although a living will and a living trust are different. A living will involves how you will be cared for if you're in a compromised or incapacitated state. This medical directive terminates upon your death.

A living trust deals with the property and assets of an incapacitated person. The trust essentially becomes the new owner of the assets. Under the living trust agreement, a trustee, or the person or persons responsible for managing the assets, is identified. Just as a living wi♉ll deals with a living person, a living trust deals with the assets of a living ♎person. They are both executed when the initiator lacks the capacity to make decisions for themselves.

The Bottom Line

A living will is a legal document that specifies 🧔the desired medical care an individual wishes to have if they lose th𝓰e ability to communicate. In the case of an unconscious person who suffers from a terminal illness or a life-threatening injury, doctors and hospitals consult a living will to determine whether or not the patient wants life-sustaining treatment, such as assisted breathing or tube feeding.

In the absence of a living will, decisions about medical care become the responsibility of the spouse, family members, or other 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:third parties. These individuals may be unaware of the patient’s desires, or they may not wish to follow the p🙈atient’s unꦫwritten, verbal directives.