The case of Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged Florida woman underscores the importance of living wills. It can communicate to your family your feelings about what kind of life is worth living. It can be critical if family members don't agree on your treatment, as was the case with Terri Schiavo.
Living wills can convince families to stop futile treatment. Often it is out-of-town loved ones who initially are adamant about continuing therapies. If you have a person's living will, there's no doubt.
Doctors say the more important decision, however, is creating a health-care-proxy or power-of-attorney document. This designates a person, such as a spouse or trusted friend, who can legally act as your agent, making medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated.
An advance medical directive typically includes both a health-care proxy and a living will. The living will portion spells out what you want or don't want when you are seriously ill and likely to die.
The laws governing these documents vary by state, including rules about who can and cannot be a witness when the documents are signed. For instance, some states require two witnesses-but the person you have named as your health-care agent can't be one of them.
It is smart to check with a lawyer to make sure you know the proper witnessing requirements and that the document clearly expresses your wishes. Many people have religious considerations about end-of-life decisions or organ donations, for instance, that you might want reflected in your directive.
Once the documents are signed, give copies to your doctors, your hospital, your agent and backup agent and other family members or close confidantes. Make sure to sit down and discuss your wishes with the person you have named as your agent.
People should periodically refresh their health-care directives. If your health-care proxy dies, gets sick or moves away, you will need to designate someone else. Living wills also need to take into account medical advances that can turn what once was a terminal or irreversible condition into something treatable.
We would be happy to discuss these important issues with you.
Alan Ehrlich, Esq.
