Considerations for Your Living Will

When creating a living will, you’ll have several things to consider before creating the document with the help of an attorney. You will want to talk with your family, your lawyer, your doctor or an important religious figure in your life. You want to consider your attitude towards living as well as dying. You’ll also want to think about how the treatments will impact your family and how ready they are to let go – should it come to that.

Know What You’re Refusing

A living will that meets your needs and life philosophy requires a little familiarity with the medical jargon used to describe situations or procedures that a doctor may want to perform when you’re incapacitated. You may feel okay with a doctor performing some of them and you may not want others.

Resuscitation – restarts your heart when it has stopped. It can be either Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or the electric shock. A medical professional may use these after an event like an auto accident, so you may want to allow this one.

Mechanical Ventilation – a device takes over your breathing when you can’t do it for yourself.

Tube Feeding – provides nutrition the body needs if you are incapacitated. Not only can you issue an order preventing a doctor from initiating this treatment, you can determine the length of time to allow it to continue once it has started.

Dialysis – does what your kidneys cannot do if you are incapacitated, remove waste from bodily fluids. Like tube feeding, it can be time regulated.

Antibiotic or Antiviral treatments – if you are incapacitated and contract a disease, a doctor may prescribe aggressive (and possibly expensive) medications to stop the spread of the infection.

You can approve or disapprove any kind of treatment in your will. You have an absolute right to control your medical care. Only in extreme circumstances can anyone force an invasive treatment on you.

Family Considerations

As we all know, medical treatments, even with “blue blood” insurance, can be expensive. Unfortunately, that cost would be one of the burdens you’d be placing on your family for some types of medical care should you become seriously ill. You should take the costs into account when making a decision on what types of care you would allow in your will.

The other burden you could place on your family is an emotional one. They may be desperate to see you recover from your illness or injury. Yet, as time wears on, they may be suffering unnecessarily. You may have young children that you have hopes of seeing grow older, and you may not quite understand the circumstances they are in when you are incapacitated for a length of time. Limiting the length of time under which you are subject to some treatments may be a good compromise between the two extremes; you give them hope but limit their angst.

Decisions That Affect You

Those issues focus on others. You also have to think about yourself. What kind of lifestyle do you enjoy now? How would you feel knowing that you are bed-ridden and dependent on machines and a team of medical professionals to keep living? Do you want to attempt to extend your life at any cost?

You can get very specific in dictating your treatment. You can make your demands situational. You can specify how you will be treated in case of an accident versus how you will be treated if you have suffered a currently incurable disease.

Talk to an Attorney About a Living Will

Discussing end-of-life issues are among the most difficult topics we can broach with each other, let alone with an attorney. Good lawyers are aware of this and will treat topics like a living will with the appropriate sensitivity and compassion. At the France Law Firm, we will give you peace of mind as we help you navigate the legal issues associated with medical care so that you can plan for your family’s future.

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Living Will

Your living will is a written document that outlines how you would like to be cared for in case of an emergency or if you’re otherwise incapacitated. Within your living will is your wishes regarding certain topics such as resuscitation, desired quality of life, and end of life treatments that you do or do not want to receive. Your living will is typically kept between you and your doctor and will advise them on how to approach your treatment, so it’s important to be as specific as possible throughout the document. This document refers to withdrawing or withholding care and applies only when your physician believes that you are in a terminal condition and are unable to speak for yourself.

An important part of your living will is the Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR), which indicates your wishes about resuscitation. Your doctor is able to add a DNR to your medical records and you can also create a prehospital DNR to to prevent paramedics from attempting to resuscitate you.

Durable Power of Attorney

Even though you define your medical wishes in your living will, it’s impossible to predict every situation that may arise, which is where the durable power of attorney comes in. The durable power of attorney for healthcare is given to the person you want to make medical decisions for you in case of an emergency and allows them the ability to make medical decisions that are not covered in your will. This person cannot contradict any of the terms of your living will, but is there to make decisions for situations not addressed in your will or in the event that your will is invalidated for any reason.

Depending on where you live, the power of attorney may be known as your “agent,” “proxy,” “patient advocate,” “surrogate,” or “attorney-in-fact.” This person not only has the power to fill in gaps that are not outlined in your will, but they also have the right to enforce your healthcare wishes in court, hire and fire doctors, have access to your medical records, and have visitation rights. It’s important to name a person you trust to make your heath care decisions if you are unable. You may include guidelines that you would like your proxy to follow or certain circumstances where you would like care withdrawn or withheld.

Combined, the living will and durable power of attorney may be called an “advanced healthcare directive.” Both may be easily revoked orally or in writing and require you to be at least 18 years old and competent at the time of creation. Choosing a qualified estate planning attorney is the best way to ensure that your wishes are honored. The legal team at France Law Firm has the experience and expertise to help you plan for the worst moments in life – or offer help if you’re already facing it. Creating your estate plan and healthcare directive can be a complex matter, which is why it’s best to have an attorney to provide you with assurance and legal piece of mind. From your will and trust to taxation planning and probate litigation, France Law Firm offers knowledge and care to help you through the difficult decisions in life. By preparing you and your loved ones for the inevitable parts of life, we help to make your worst days, and there’s, more bearable. Your personal needs are as unique as you are and at France Law, legal protection is a tailor-made solution. Contact us today to get started.

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If you are helping someone with their estate, or doing your own, don’t overlook a living will. It can give invaluable guidance to family members and healthcare professionals if a person can’t express his or her wishes. Without a document expressing those wishes, family members and doctors are left to guess what a seriously ill person would prefer in terms of treatment. They may end up in painful disputes, which occasionally make it all the way to a courtroom.

How to Create a Living Will

The requirements for a living will vary by state so many people hire a lawyer to prepare their living will. If you need to write or update a will or trust, you can take care of your living will at the same time.

How Living Wills Work

Many states have forms for advance directives, allowing residents to state their wishes in as much or as little detail as they’d like. For example, it is common to direct that “palliative care” — that is, care to decrease pain or suffering– always be administered, but that certain “extraordinary measures,” like cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) not be used in certain circumstances.

To be valid, a living will must meet state requirements regarding notarization or witness. A living will can be revoked at any time. The document can take effect as soon as it is signed, or only when it is determined that the person can no longer communicate his or her wishes about treatment. Even if it takes effect immediately, doctors will rely on personal communication, not a document, as long as possible.

What Can a Living Will Cover?

Many people believe that a living will only directs health care providers to withhold treatment. While many choose to issue that type of instruction, a living will also allows a person to ask for all available treatment options and medical techniques, or to choose some medical options and reject others. Because a living will involves complicated medical issues, consultation with a doctor may help clarify different treatment types and assist the patient in making living will decisions. Some people do not complete living wills because they worry doctors could let them die when there is still a chance for recovery. However, a living will cannot take effect legally unless the patient is medically determined to be in a permanent vegetative state or terminally ill, and therefore unable to communicate medical preferences.

Powers of Attorney for Healthcare

Living wills are often used with a document called a durable power of attorney (DPOA) for healthcare. In some states, in fact, the two documents are combined into one. A DPOA appoints someone to carry out the wishes about end-of-life treatment that are written down in a living will or medical directive. The person named is called the “agent,” “health care proxy,” or “attorney-in-fact” of the person who makes the DPOA.

Choosing an Attorney-In-Fact

The person chosen as the attorney-in-fact or proxy for health care decisions should be a trusted individual who is comfortable discussing health care issues. Because this person may need to argue the patient’s case with doctors or family members, or even go to court, an assertive and diplomatic individual may be preferred. The representative should be well aware of the choices made in the relevant documents, and should support those instructions. It is also useful to enlist the cooperation of friends, relatives, and healthcare providers by giving them executed copies of the document for their reference, should the need arise.

Living Wills After Death

Any authority granted by a living will ends when the person who made the document dies, with the single exception that some living wills or powers of attorney gave healthcare agents the power to make decisions about organ donation or autopsy. But because those decisions must be made very soon after death, the authority is not long lasting. Again, this is in sharp contrast to a regular “last will and testament,” which has no effect when the will maker is alive, but becomes legally binding at death.

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More than 70 percent of Americans have made a living will, also known as an “advance directive.” According to a 2014 study by the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, that figure has risen from 47 percent to 72 percent in the last decade. Generally speaking, a living will should state what medical treatment you do not want to receive, should you become incapacitated. As long as you can think and speak for yourself, it doesn’t come into play, as you will be able to approve or refuse any treatment for yourself.

At France Law Firm, we are here to help you plan a living will before life gets to that uncomfortable stage. Here are some reasons why every adult should take the time to make out a living will, no matter their age.

A living will protects you when you can no longer communicate
The most advantageous part of having a living will is that it protects you in a future situation in which you no longer can communicate your wishes. If something were to happen, the medical professionals in charge of treating you have a big say in what happens to you once you are in a state in which you can not communicate what you want to be done.

Prevents major arguments between family members
Having a living will prevents major arguments between family members when the decision is not up to the medical professionals in charge. The other people that have a say in what happens to you are your family members. If they disagree on what should be done with you, it can cause relationship ending arguments between members of your family. This is the last thing you want happening during such a tough and difficult time. With a living will, it will be your choice and no one else’s. This will eliminate any argument or debate as to what should happen to you.

Gives you control over medical treatments/procedures
A living will also gives you control over what medical treatments and procedures take place in a situation where you are ill to the point of not being able to communicate. In this situation, a living will orders doctors to fulfill your wishes in writing. This way, you can take the decision out of their hands.

Reduces potentially unwanted medical bills for your family
In a situation that you get into a coma or vegetative state, a living will decides exactly what is done with you. Many people would rather die than live an additional 20 years on life support. The reason being is because if they are on life support, it will rack up enormous medical bills in which their family will have to pay. If you do not specify this, then your family may be left paying insurmountable medical bills. If you do not want to see something like this happen, you will need a living will that specifies exactly what you would like to happen in a given situation such as this one.

Gives you piece of mind
Making out a living will gives you piece of mind. These documents are designed to give you the control to prevent more bad things from happening in tragic situations. Tragic situations are hard enough, and you want to know that your family as well as yourself will be taken care of properly in such a situation.

The last thing you would want to do is end up giving people outside of your family control over what happens under bad circumstances, or leave them with endless medical bills. If you are interested in getting a living will written up, contact France Law Firm today. We are here to help you protect yourself against these situations, and make the best decisions today that you can.

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