There are four core documents to any estate plan. One such document is a living will. The living will is not a will as in last will and testament but it is a legal document controlling the decisions you want health care providers to follow in the event you become incapacitated.
It is not for the temproary situation where you might become incapacitated due to a short term incident but rather whether under certain conditions you wish to have life sustaining pocedures and treatments that affect your long term outlook and to prolong your life.
It tells your loved ones, doctors, lawyers and judges what you want them to do in the event you are no longer able to care for yourself without the aid or intervention of others. We have all heard of cases where people go into what seems like a coma or what others think of as a persistent vegetative state and the children don’t want mom or dad to die but the spouse may want to “pull the plug” so to speak.
The living will can often be used as a way to mitigate feelings between family members allowing the patient to maintain the autonomy of making medical decisions up to the very end. This can help to avoid family conflict and avoid expensive medical bills often borne by those who remain to care for the individual.
If you would like to know more about living wills, durable powers of attorney for health care decisions and other life planning documents please feel free to contact our office for a free initial consultation at (314) 456-9632 today.
