Should You Make A Living Will?
Nobody enjoys thinking about dying someday, but it is something you need to start planning for. There are legal decisions that come into play near the end of your life, and you may not be mentally able to make those decisions. That's where living wills come into play. Your estate planning attorney can help you draft a document that will ensure that any medical requests are done according to your wishes, even if you are not about to voice what you want due to being incapacitated. If you are doubting the importance of your living will, consider these two things.
Illness Can Come Unexpectedly
You may think that you are healthy and young, and you don't need to start thinking about your living will until you get older. The truth is that an illness can come at any time, even when you are young. A car accident may leave you incapacitated and in the hospital, and you need a legal document to tell family and doctors what your wishes are. Don't put off making the living will until you think you'll need it, because it will be too late by that time to go through the proper legal process of making one.
Living Wills Have Many Advantages
Thanks to the advances of modern medicine and science, people that are ill are able to stay alive longer and have a better chance of recovery. However, sometimes people are being kept alive with very little chance of recovery. You may have a personal desire about how your life support will be handled in a situation like this. A living will can state if you want to have a breathing or feeding tube used on you, of if doctors can resort to using artificial resuscitation. Doctors must follow these requests, even if family members want to pick something different on your behalf.
A living will essentially gives you a voice at a time in your life when you don't have one. You may have desires to end your life when the quality is not going to be acceptable to you, or to prevent family members from draining savings trying to keep you alive with a very poor quality of life.
If you want to move forward with making a living will, reach out to an estate planning lawyer in your area. They can draft this document while creating other important estate planning documents, such as an actual will or trust for handling your assets.