Living Will

A Living Will is used to specify the degree of medical treatment that you would want should you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious. It helps make your health care wishes clear to your family, friends and doctors - helping to ensure that those wishes are carried out. In addition, it eases the burden on your loved ones who might otherwise have to make serious decisions for you.

Although a Living Will can be drawn up without the help of a lawyer, your wishes still need to be authorized. You can do this by naming a health care proxy, which is a person you authorize to make decisions regarding your treatment. You also may grant a durable power of attorney to someone who, like the proxy, then has the power to make the health care decisions you want.

If you feel strongly about the kind of medical care you would or wouldn't want to receive should you fall gravely ill, you should draft a Living Will as soon as possible. Court cases involving a patient's right to live or die often involve younger people, not the elderly.

To get started, put your wishes on paper. If you are already working with a lawyer to draft a Will regarding your estate, you should consider drafting a Living Will at the same time.