As you age, or if you suffer a severe, life-threatening illness or become incapacitated due to injuries or chronic health conditions, you may worry about the stress your loved ones might experience in figuring out your preferences or wishes for medical or end-of-life care. Fortunately, you can guide your family or health care proxy by creating a living will, a document that allows you to communicate medical and end-of-life care preferences if you cannot make decisions yourself due to incapacity.
Working with an experienced estate planning lawyer from LaFountain & Wollman P.C. can help you understand your rights and options for making a living will and ensure you have a document that accurately conveys your wishes and preferences to your loved ones. Contact us today to get started with a consultation.
Understanding Living Wills
A living will, also called an advance health care directive, allows you to communicate your wishes regarding medical treatment or end-of-life care. It informs your health care proxy or family member of your preferences if you become incapacitated or otherwise unable to communicate medical treatment decisions. Unlike a last will and testament, a living will does not direct the distribution of your estate.
People typically create living wills to document their preferences regarding medical treatment in life-threatening situations, including when they would like life-sustaining treatment (such as ventilators or feeding tubes) or when they want such treatment discontinued. People can also use living wills to communicate preferences for medical treatment, end-of-life care, and funeral and burial preparations in the context of the person’s religious beliefs. Living wills provide clarity to family members, health care proxies, and medical providers regarding your wishes or preferences if you cannot communicate these choices due to incapacity.
Unfortunately, Massachusetts law does not recognize a living will or advance health care directive as binding on family members, health care proxies, or medical providers. However, you can still create a living will in Massachusetts to guide your health care proxy or family members and prevent additional confusion and stress regarding your wishes during a difficult time.
Key Provisions of Living Wills
You can use a living will to address various medical treatment, end-of-life care, or post-death arrangement decisions, communicating your wishes based on your personal preferences, religious beliefs, and other considerations. A living will can address decisions for:
- Extraordinary Life-Saving Measures – You can dictate your wishes for when you want health care providers to undertake extraordinary life-saving measures, such as CPR or medications to restart the heart or lungs. However, you can choose against such legally binding life-saving measures by executing a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order.
- Life Support – You can describe whether you would like doctors to use life support measures like ventilators or feeding tubes to keep you alive if you become severely incapacitated or suffer a coma or vegetative state. You can also describe the conditions under which you would like life support withdrawn.
- Aggressive Treatment During Terminal Illness – Your living will can discuss your wishes and preferences for receiving aggressive medical treatment for infections or other medical issues when suffering from a terminal illness, including whether you prefer to let illnesses run their course.
- End-of-Life or Palliative Care – You can also describe when you would like to receive palliative care or under what conditions you would like to enter hospice for end-of-life care to receive treatment to manage pain and make yourself comfortable. A living will might also express your wishes for passing at home and declining invasive tests or treatments.
- Post-Death Donations – You can use a living will to communicate your preferences for donating organs for transplants or donating your body for scientific use.
Do You Need a Living Will?
Even when a person remains in good health, they may consider creating a living will to guide loved ones should the worst happen. Anyone can suffer an unexpected life-threatening medical situation due to an accident or aggressive illness. Having a living will can give you peace of mind, knowing your loved ones understand your preferences and wishes and will not have to guess what you want or fight among themselves over what they think you would have wanted for medical care. You may also need a living will after you’ve executed a health care proxy to appoint a trusted loved one to make medical decisions if you become incapacitated. A living will can give your proxy guidance as they execute their role.
Changing Your Existing Living Will
Once you’ve written a living will, you can change any of its provisions at any time if your preferences or wishes change. To change an existing living will, you should create a new living will document, distribute copies of your amended living will to relevant parties (such as your medical providers and health care proxy), and request the return of any copies of your old living will so you can destroy them.
How Can LaFountain & Wollman P.C. Help You Create a Living Will?
The legal team at LaFountain & Wollman P.C. can help you draft a living will that reflects your wishes and allows you to guide your loved ones as they make medical decisions for you after your incapacitation. We’ll handle this sensitive process by:
- Sitting down with you to discuss various medical treatment and end-of-life care scenarios to determine your preferences and wishes
- Explaining the legal importance and effect of a living will in Massachusetts so you understand the consequences of creating the document
- Drafting a living will document that reflects your preferences
- Helping you distribute copies of your living will to parties who will need it, such as your medical providers, health care proxy, and family members
- Assisting you with revising your living will if your preferences or wishes change
Contact Us Today to Set Up Your Living Will
When you want to provide your loved ones and health care providers with clarity regarding your preferences for medical treatment and end-of-life care in the event of your incapacitation, a living will is an effective means of communicating your wishes. Contact LaFountain & Wollman P.C. today for an initial consultation with an experienced estate planning attorney to discuss your options and get legal guidance for incorporating a living will into your estate plan.