Living will
A written statement of what medical treatment you would and would not want if you could not say so at the time.
What it means
A living will speaks about treatment rather than about people. It typically addresses life-sustaining treatment near the end of life — resuscitation, ventilation, feeding tubes — and what should happen when recovery is not expected.
It is not a will and has nothing to do with property. The word is unfortunate and causes real confusion.
It works best alongside a health care proxy: the living will says what, the proxy says who.
Why it matters
Written instructions carry weight that a family's recollection does not, and they take the weight off the family. A daughter who can point to a document is not the person who decided.
It is also the document most often written and then left where nobody can find it, which is the same as not having one.
When you are likely to meet it
- When completing advance directive forms.
- When a hospital asks whether there is one on file.
- When a parent wants to say something and does not know how to start.
How this varies by state
Whether a state uses a combined advance directive form, and what witnessing it requires, are set by state law.