The Importance of a Living Will and a Healthcare Proxy

Few of us will ever forget the emotionally charged battle over the life of Terry Schiavo as she lay unconscious and withered away. Meanwhile, family members, the medical community, politicians, and the media made their case for her fate. It divided a family and a nation. While that particular case drew worldwide attention, thousands of similar cases play out in hospitals and hostels each year, and the emotional toll is no less devastating for the families who must make the most difficult decisions of their lives.

Who would ever want to put their family through that? With a living will and a health care proxy, you can take the ultimate decision out of your loved ones’ hands and control your life if you become incapacitated. Not only will a living will ensure that your wishes are fulfilled, but it will also be the ultimate unselfish act of love for your family.

What Exactly Is a Living Will?

While estate planning deals with your assets after death, a living will focuses on your medical wishes if you can’t speak for yourself. It’s a legal document that lets doctors know your preferences for life-sustaining treatment for a terminal illness.

Why a Living Will Might Not Be Enough

Most states limit living wills to situations where a terminal diagnosis exists. To cover situations where you’re incapacitated but not terminally ill, consider a healthcare proxy. This legal document appoints someone you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf.

A health care proxy that assigns a medical power of attorney will provide much more in the way of legal enforcement, as the agent you designate will have the same force of law as you would if you could make medical decisions on your own. While it may be preferable to appoint a trusted person you know as a healthcare agent or patient advocate, selecting someone who can make difficult decisions without bias or emotion is advisable.

What Decisions are Made in Advance?

Your living will, or advance medical directive, is kept on file with your physician, primary healthcare provider, and your healthcare agent. While competent, you maintain the power to revoke or change the will or its provisions. The directive is then used to guide the medical decisions for your care, many of which involve life-sustaining treatments. But your healthcare proxy can also include treatment decisions if you are temporarily incapacitated. The types of treatment options you might include in your directive include the following:

Artificial ventilation: do you want to be kept alive by mechanical means when you cannot breathe on your own?

Artificial feeding: do you want to be fed and hydrated by intravenous tubes?

Dialysis: do you want to be sustained through a machine that provides an artificial kidney function?

CPR: do you want to be resuscitated through CPR or electric shock if your heart stops beating?

Some directives can state your preferences for treatment in cases involving your mental health, which includes your consent to receive active treatments such as electroshock therapy or medication. Decisions to administer mental health treatments are no less difficult for family members, so it is essential to include a mental health directive with your living will.

Your Action Today Will Spare Heartache Later

While no one wants to spend any more time than necessary envisioning themselves at the end of a feeding tube, once your living will and health care proxy are in place, the peace of mind you and your family will have is well worth the hour it will take to get them done.