What is a living will? In this article we will discuss using a Living Will to provide for end of life instruction. This article is the fifth in a series of nine articles explaining the Eight Goals of a Good Estate Plan.
In our previous article, we discussed using a Healthcare Power of Attorney to appoint an agent to make healthcare decisions on your behalf if you are mentally incompetent. A Living Will is a tool used to make the decision, while you are still mentally competent, to terminate life-sustaining treatment in the event that you are in an irreversible vegetative state. The Living Will takes this decision out of the hands of your healthcare agent.