Living Will Guide
A Living Will is a document that informs doctors and other health care professionals of your choices with regard to artificial life support, feeding tubes, and hydration if you are unable to communicate on your own behalf.
This Guide to Your Living Will is intended to help you do the following:
- Ensure that your Living Will is legally valid.
- Answer common questions about the Living Will.
- Provide definitions for legal terms you may find in your Living Will.
Ensuring Your Living Will Is Legally Valid
Refer to the TotalLegal Guidelines for Executing Your Living Will or Advance Health Care Directive that you received with your document for state-specific information on signing your Living Will.
Common Questions About Your Living Will
After I sign my Living Will, where should I keep it and whom should I inform?
Keep your Living Will in a safe and accessible place in case of an emergency. You should give a copy to your primary physician, your health care Agent or Patient Advocate, and your spouse, as well as any health care providers upon admission to a hospital or clinic.
What is the difference between a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and a Living Will?
A Living Will is a document that informs doctors and other health care professionals of your wishes regarding artificial life support, feeding tubes, and hydration if you are unable to communicate on your own behalf.
On the other hand, a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care allows you to designate a Health Care Agent to make decisions about your medical treatment if you are unable to make those decisions yourself. While a Living Will sets forth your wishes about life-sustaining treatment, a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care can authorize an Agent to make a wider range of health care decisions.
When does a Living Will become effective?
A Living Will provides instructions for your health care if you become unable to make or communicate your own health care decisions. The circumstances under which a Living Will becomes operative depend on the terms of the document and applicable state law.
How do I make changes to my Living Will?
If you wish to change your Living Will, you may log in to your TotalLegal account to determine whether your document can be updated through the online interview. Because requirements for changing or revoking a Living Will vary by state, be sure to follow the applicable signing and execution requirements for your revised document.
Common Terms Related to Your Living Will
Advance Health Care Directive: A document that provides instructions concerning your wishes for health care if you become unable to make or communicate those decisions yourself.
Anatomical Gift: The donation of your body or organs to medical science or for transplantation.
Artificial Hydration and Nutrition: A form of life-sustaining treatment made up of nutrients and fluids provided through a tube or intravenously.
Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care: A Power of Attorney that allows a Health Care Agent to make decisions about your medical treatment if you become unable to do so yourself.
Health Care Agent: A person chosen in advance to make health care decisions for you in the event that you become unable to do so.
Incapacitated: A state in which a person is unable to make or communicate his or her own decisions.
Living Will: A document that states your wishes concerning certain health care and life-sustaining treatment if you become unable to make or communicate those decisions yourself.
Patient Advocate: A person designated to act on your behalf concerning health care decisions where permitted by applicable state law.
Principal: The person who authorizes a Health Care Agent or Patient Advocate to act on his or her behalf.