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Everyone
Should Have A Living Will
By David Hallstrom
According
to information provided by Plan-My-Estate.com an estate planning
and asset protection resource web site, a living will, known in
most states as a Directive to Physicians or Healthcare Directive,
sets out your wishes about what extended medical treatment should
be withheld or provided if you become unable to communicate those
wishes. The directive creates a contract with the attending doctor.
Once the doctor receives a properly signed and witnessed directive,
he or she is under a duty either to honor its instructions or to
make sure you are transferred to the care of another doctor who
will.
There
is an old saying, "nothing is sure in life except death and
taxes". Whether you like it or not, someday you will die. How
you die and how it effects the people you leave behind can be affected
by whether or not you have a living will.
Say
you feel that if you develop an inevitably fatal illness, you do
not want any extreme measures taken to prolong your suffering or
to cause you additional suffering or loss of dignity while you are
dying. Say you have a massive stroke and end up in a coma and according
to the doctors you are brain dead or completely unresponsive. You
are being kept alive by a bunch of machines and tubes.
Now
say you had previously told someone, your spouse, one of your children
or a parent, that you did not want to be kept alive by extreme measures.
That person tells the doctor that you would not want to be kept
alive by a machine, however, another family member, who can not
take the thought of your dying, tells the doctor that you wanted
to be kept alive by any means possible. Now, there is a problem.
Remember the seven (7) year court battle over Terri Schiavo.
Both
family members love you and both want to do what is best, however
they disagree and end up causing great emotional distress to each
other and to other people who love you, as well as forcing you to
be kept ailve against your wishes while the matter is being settled,
and as well as running up considerable medical and legal expenses
that have to be paid by someone. None of this would have taken place
had you taked the time to have a living will prepared.
Conversely,
say that you would like to receive all medical treatment that is
available, no matter what. Since you can not speak for yourself,
your spouse or a loved one, not knowing your wishes and who believes
in dying with dignity, tells the doctor to turn off the machines
and let you die. No one else knows what you wanted so the machines
are turned off and you die. Had you taken the time to have a living
will prepared they would have tried to keep you alive.
The
foregoing examples are very black and white and most incidences
will vary in various shades of grey, however I hope that you will
understand the point that I am trying to get across.
Note:
I am not an attorney or a doctor and none of the foregoing should
be construed as legal or medical advice. This article is written
strictly as my opinion based on life experiences through both my
personal life and my work as a private investigator when investigating
family disputes. As in all matters of law you should always consult
an attorney before taking on any legal endeavor.
Whether
you are married, single, young, old, healthy or ill, a living will
is an inexpensive way of insuring that your wishes are carried out
in the event that something untoward happens. It could also spare
your loved ones the emotional distress of being forced to make such
an important decision for you.
David
G. Hallstrom, Sr. is a retired private investigator and currently
publishes several internet directories including http://www.resourcesforattorneys.com
a legal and lifestyle resources directory for attorneys, lawyers
and the internet public.
