A Living Will - also known as an Advanced Healthcare Directive - lets you document your decisions about artificial life support in advance. This ultimately protects your loved ones from having to make these difficult, deeply personal choices for you. .
How are a Last Will, Living Will and Living Trust different?
Prepare a Living Will Online at Lawyer-Free Prices - Will Links & FAQs
There are many free living will sources that can help you write a living will or provide information on living will. Free living will forms can be found online through private firms, hospitals and government entities. In order to make a living will, a free living will form can be found in a PDF Acrobat format, such as a living will template, that allows you to make a living will electronically.
The fundamental purpose of a living will is to prevent uninformed doctors connecting you to a machine after a point in time when there is no hope of recovery or when you would have naturally died if unassisted. A living will comes into effect when you are mentally impaired, such as with a comma, and unable to communicate with your health care providers as to the appropriateness of available medical treatments. In essence, a living will allows you to decide in advance of a debilitating illness or injury what is acceptable in the way of medical treatment or life support procedures. A living will is not necessarily a death living will because it actually addresses medical issues during your lifetime.
A living will can be revoked. The best revocation procedure is to destroy all known copies of the death living will or to notify the health care provider or treating doctor that you wish to revoke the living will instrument.
The best source of information on living will is an attorney with estate planning expertise. Often a living will testament is prepared at the same time as a person's last will and testament is prepared. Most states have specific guidelines for how a will is witnessed, signed and notarized. Failure to follow the guidelines specific to your state could invalidate the will. Different states call a living will by different names such as a medial declaration or a directive to a physician. Your rights under state law, and common law, protect your ability to refuse medical treatment that helps you prolong your life under circumstances that are unacceptable to you.
A living will gives your health care providers detailed instructions on how to treat you.
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