LIVING WILL

_{A living will is different than a last will and testament. To read about a last will click here.}

A Living Will

Also Know As "An Advanced Directive For Health Care Decisions"

An Advanced Health Care Directive is recognized as valid in all states. It is a document in which you, while you are still in a sound mental state, detail or list the instructions about how you want your own health care provider to treat you - i.e., what you want done or not done - when or if you can't or aren't in a position to make your own decisions known (for instance, if you are in a prolonged coma).

The document permits you to inform your doctors, friends and family members as to what kind of care you would like to have if you become unable to make medical decisions for yourself. Further, the Advanced Health Care Directive allows you to be more specific than the traditional living will, which normally announces only your desire not to receive life-sustaining treatment if you are terminally ill or in a permanently unconscious state.

The Advanced Health Care Directive also permits you to appoint an agent to make somewhat "less serious" healthcare decisions for you, generally in circumstances in which you are otherwise unable to make or communicate such decisions. For example, if medical treatment is required due to an injury that has left you in an unconscious state (but not a permanent comatose state), the healthcare power of attorney allows the agent that you appoint to make that decision for you.

The Living Will portion of the directive allows you to request that artificial life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn when it becomes apparent that death is imminent or that you will not recover to a conscious state and you are unable to make responsible decisions regarding medical care.

Here are 3 different samples of wording in a living will or advanced directives for health care decisions,

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Health Care Power of Attorney

A health care power of attorney or a POA for health care decisions is an agent or a person who you have a close relationship with and can trust to make medical decisions on your behalf in the event you are unable to make decisions for yourself. A legal document which appoints a health care agent is sometimes known as a "health care power of attorney."

Unlike a standard living will, an agent is able to make decisions on your behalf even if you are not terminally ill or in an irreversible coma, so long as you are not able to make these decisions on your own. A health care power of attorney also provides a back-up in case a hospital does not fully honor your living will.

In some cases, the provisions of a living will are combined with the health care power of attorney. The LegalZoom Living Will allows you to combine a living will with the appointment of a health care agent. In addition, you can nominate an alternate health care agent in case your first choice is unable to serve.