Living Wills/Advance Directives
Protecting Your End-of-Life Medical Wishes
As adults, people expect to be able to take care of themselves. We are responsible for finding our own doctors, scheduling appointments and seeking treatment when we do not feel healthy. As we get older, we may need to rely on someone else for assistance. There may also come a time when we are unable to make these decisions on our own. The Living Will/Advance Directive provides express guidance for the individual designated as the Health Care Proxy concerning end-of-life decisions.
The Importance of a Well-Drafted Living Will
A living will is an expression of a person’s wishes regarding how they would like to be treated in the event of a terminal illness or incapacity. It allows individuals to clearly define what should happen with medical treatment if they are unable to verbalize their wishes. The firm works with clients to address those often tragic and unplanned situations in which the medical consensus is that there will not ever be a return to a viable quality of life. Living Wills address such situations as:
Would you want to be kept alive on a respirator if you are unable to breathe on your own?
If your heart stops, do you want doctors to use CPR or defibrillation in an attempt to restart it?
If you are in a state of permanent unconsciousness, do you want to be nourished and hydrated through tubes connected to your digestive tract or other intravenous means?
Like other estate planning documents, it is important that living wills address each possible situation that could arise. Every detail must clearly reflect the client’s wishes.