Online Will Blog

Understanding the Purpose and Power of a Living Will

A living will—a cornerstone of advance care planning—is a legal document that outlines your preferences for medical treatment if you become unable to make or communicate decisions. Unlike traditional wills that distribute property after death, living wills address medical care while you're still alive but incapacitated.

Research from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization reveals that when patients have clear living wills, they're more likely to receive care aligned with their preferences, and their families experience significantly less stress during medical crises.

Comprehensive living wills address critical scenarios including:

• Life support preferences
• Resuscitation wishes
• Artificial nutrition and hydration
• Pain management approaches
• Comfort care priorities
• Organ donation intentions

The document serves multiple important purposes: honoring your autonomy, providing guidance to healthcare teams, reducing family burden, and preventing unwanted interventions or treatments.

Determining What to Include in Your Living Will

The most effective living wills go beyond basic medical interventions to comprehensively address your healthcare values and preferences:

Medical Interventions and Treatments: Clearly specify your wishes regarding:

• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Mechanical ventilation
• Tube feeding
• Dialysis
• Antibiotics and other medications
• Comfort care measures

Quality of Life Considerations: Define what "quality of life" means to you. Would you want life-sustaining treatment if you had:

• No chance of regaining consciousness
• No ability to interact with others
• Permanent dependence on others for daily care
• Severe pain or discomfort despite medical intervention

Values Statement: Include your overall healthcare philosophy and priorities. This provides context for medical decisions not specifically addressed in your document.

Special Instructions: Address specific concerns based on your personal medical history, family health background, or religious/cultural requirements.

The American Bar Association's Commission on Law and Aging emphasizes that the more comprehensive your living will, the more effective it will be in guiding medical decisions that truly align with your wishes.

Evaheld's living will creation tools help ensure you address all these critical elements comprehensively, creating a document that truly reflects your personal preferences.

The Step-by-Step Process of Creating Your Living Will

Creating a thorough living will involves several key steps:

1. Self-Reflection and Values Clarification: Before drafting any documents, reflect on your values, quality-of-life priorities, and healthcare goals. Consider completing a values history form to clarify your thinking.

2. Research Your State's Requirements: Living will laws vary by location. Some jurisdictions require specific forms, witnessing procedures, or notarization.

3. Choose Your Healthcare Agent: While separate from your living will, designating a healthcare power of attorney is essential for comprehensive advance care planning. Select someone who understands your wishes and will advocate for them.

4. Draft Your Document: Use appropriate forms for your jurisdiction, ensuring all required elements are included. Be specific about treatments you would or would not want in various scenarios.

5. Discuss With Healthcare Providers: Review your draft with your primary physician to ensure your medical preferences are clear and realistic given your health status.

6. Execute Properly: Follow your jurisdiction's requirements for signing, witnessing, and possibly notarizing your document. Improper execution can render your living will invalid.

7. Distribute and Store Appropriately: Ensure your document is accessible when needed by providing copies to key people and storing the original safely.

The team at Evaheld guides you through each of these steps, ensuring your living will meets all legal requirements while truly reflecting your personal wishes.

Making Your Living Will Legally Valid

Requirements for legally valid living wills vary by jurisdiction but generally include:

• You must be of sound mind when creating the document
• The document must be in writing
• You must sign the document
• Witnesses (typically two) must sign
• Some states require notarization
• Some jurisdictions require specific statutory forms

Beyond these basic requirements, many legal experts recommend having your living will reviewed by an attorney specializing in elder law or estate planning to ensure it meets all local requirements and effectively addresses your specific situation.

While online templates can provide starting points, personalized guidance helps ensure your living will fully addresses your unique circumstances and wishes.

Ensuring Your Living Will Is Found and Followed

Creating a comprehensive living will serves little purpose if it cannot be found when needed. Effective distribution and storage strategies include:

• Give copies to your primary care physician and specialists for inclusion in your medical records
• Provide copies to your designated healthcare agent and alternates
• Discuss your living will with family members who might be involved in your care
• If available in your area, register with your state's advance directive registry
• Consider keeping a wallet card noting the existence of your advance directives and how to access them
• Review digital storage options that provide emergency access

Evaheld provides secure digital storage for your living will and other healthcare directives, making them accessible to authorized individuals when needed while maintaining privacy and security.

Addressing Special Circumstances in Your Living Will

Standard living will forms may not adequately address complex or specific medical situations. Consider these specialized approaches:

Dementia-Specific Provisions: Traditional living wills typically apply only when you cannot communicate, but dementia presents a more nuanced situation where you might still communicate but lack decision-making capacity. Dementia-specific directives provide stage-appropriate guidance.

Pregnancy Provisions: Some states automatically invalidate living wills during pregnancy. If this concerns you, include specific instructions regarding your wishes if you are pregnant when your living will would otherwise take effect.

Religious or Cultural Requirements: Document any religious or cultural requirements regarding treatments, end-of-life care, or body disposition.

Mental Health Considerations: Consider how mental health conditions might affect your preferences and include appropriate guidance.

Evaheld's comprehensive living will creation platform helps identify these special considerations based on your unique situation, ensuring your document addresses your specific needs.

Communicating Beyond the Document

While a legally valid living will provides essential documentation, effective advance care planning extends beyond paperwork to include meaningful conversations with loved ones and healthcare providers.

Studies show that these conversations significantly increase the likelihood your wishes will be honored and reduce the emotional burden on family members making decisions.

Consider discussing:

• Your underlying values and quality-of-life considerations
• Specific scenarios that concern you most
• Why you've chosen particular healthcare representatives
• How your religious or personal beliefs influence your healthcare choices

These conversations complement your written directives, providing context and clarity for those who may need to implement your wishes.

Maintaining Your Living Will: Review and Updates

Living wills should evolve as your health, circumstances, and preferences change. Healthcare experts recommend reviewing your living will:

• After any major health diagnosis
• When starting a new decade of life
• After significant family changes (marriage, divorce, death of spouse)
• When your designated healthcare agent becomes unavailable
• If your values or preferences regarding end-of-life care change

Regular reviews ensure your living will continues to accurately reflect your current wishes and medical situation.

Conclusion

A thoughtfully created living will stands as one of the most significant expressions of self-determination and family care you can undertake. By clearly documenting your healthcare preferences, you maintain control over deeply personal medical decisions even when you cannot communicate directly.

The process of creating a comprehensive living will often prompts valuable reflection on your values, beliefs, and what matters most during life's most challenging moments.

These reflections, when documented and shared appropriately, provide invaluable guidance to healthcare providers and loved ones.

Remember that effective living wills combine proper documentation with meaningful conversations about your wishes. With support from platforms like Evaheld, you can create a living will that truly reflects your unique preferences, values, and healthcare goals—providing peace of mind for yourself and clarity for those who care about you.