A Living Will is a legal document that normally states that if you are terminal and incurable and death is imminent, or if you are in a permanently vegetative state and not coming back, the medical providers may remove you from a ventilator, if you are on one. It may also authorize the removal of feeding tubes if you have been placed on those.
We all remember back with Teri Schiavo in Florida when there was a fight between family members over whether or not she should be taken off the ventilator which she had been on for years. Some family members believed that she was permanently brain damaged and would not be returning, and that letting her pass on was the more humane action. Other family members believed that she should stay on the ventilator until she eventually died on the ventilator.
We may remember that it was a big political issue with the U.S. Senate meeting into the evenings on this issue. They were considering passing a Federal Law that would require a Federal Judge to issue an order authorizing the removal from the ventilator. Voters started calling into their Congressmen and Senators with the sentiments being that 95% believed it was a family issue for the family to decide and that the government should “get out” of these family concerns. The federal legislature stopped their meetings and moved away from trying to regulate that sensitive family area.
In the Teri Schiavo case, Ms. Schiavo was a young adult of approximately 30 years of age when she had a stroke. She did not have a Living Will. Most young people think they are “bullet proof.” It is only as we get further along in life that we realize that things are out of our zone of control and that we could be involved in an accident or have health concerns even as a young person.
You will want to make sure that you have a Living Will that is current and properly written. You’ll also want to make sure it works across state lines. Like many Health Care Powers of Attorney (also know as Health Care Proxies in some states), they are often drafted with state specific statutes which may not be recognized in another state. We never know when or where we might get sick or have an accident that would require the Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will be used for medical care and end-of-life decisions.
We design Living Wills and Health Care Powers of Attorney to work in different states as our clients travel.
At the Law Firm of Steven Andrew Jackson, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, we have helped hundreds of families protect themselves and their loved ones, avoid Estate Taxes and Probate Costs, and keep their Estate Plans current with the law through The Customized Protective Estate Planning Solution™.