A living will only take effect in the event of medically diagnosed incapacity; depending on your state, one or two doctors will make this determination. Your family should know where you keep your living will to present to the hospital if necessary. Having predetermined your boundaries for medical care will provide great relief to your family during the heightened emotional time of dealing with a loved one’s incapacity.

Treatment Options to Consider When Preparing Your Living Will

• Do you want all treatments available to try to save your life?
• Do you want all treatments but add a timeline to stop them if they are not working?
• Do you only want treatments that cause no pain or discomfort?
• Do you prefer only palliative (comfort) care? Palliative care will provide only medication to alleviate pain but not treatments to prolong or save your life.

More Detailed Medical Treatment Decisions

• Treatment types – There may be treatments you always want to have, such as pain medication. There are also those you may never want to receive, such as dialysis or long-term ventilator care.
• Short and long-term treatments – If a short-term treatment provides a good chance of getting better, you may want that. For example, if you are recovering from surgery, you might opt to have a feeding tube for a short while. Alternatively, if you sustain a severe and long-term brain injury, you may not want a permanent feeding tube. You can create time limits for life-sustaining treatments so that you do not linger in a vegetative state if treatments remain unsuccessful.
• Invasive tests and treatment options – Many of these procedures create discomfort and pain. Lab tests, antibiotic treatment, blood transfusions, and surgery may prolong your life even when recovery is no longer possible. You may not want to receive a blood transfusion if you are not COVID-19 vaccinated because of the risk of receiving blood with the mRNA vaccine.
• Feeding tubes – This procedure, also known as artificial hydration and nutrition, can sustain your body if you are unconscious or can’t swallow. A tube from which the sustenance flows is put into your stomach by a healthcare provider.
• Life support – If some of your organs are no longer functioning, life support treatments can help sustain the function of the damaged organ. If your kidneys don’t work, you can receive dialysis to remove impurities and wastes from your blood, or if you can’t breathe, you may be placed on a ventilator.
• CPR and DNR – Without specific instructions to disallow CPR or electric shock, which attempts to restart your heart if it stops beating, healthcare emergency responders and medical providers will use these techniques to save your life. A DNR (do not resuscitate) is a legally binding physician order and can be part of your living will. A copy of your DNR order needs to also be on file with your medical records.

Limiting Certain Treatments

Certain situations can occur where you may want to limit treatments because of the degradation to your quality of life and little hope of getting better:

• You can use a wheelchair, but you can’t walk
• You experience constant and severe diarrhea or nausea
• You are unable to control urination and bowel movements
• You require caregivers to bathe, help you with toileting, dressing, and feeding
• You need a ventilator to breathe
• You need a feeding tube to eat
• You require kidney dialysis to survive
• You can’t think straight or communicate effectively
• You no longer recognize family and friends
• You experience severe or constant pain

Other Questions to Ask

A living will is instructive but can’t possibly determine every scenario for an end-of-life situation; however it can include important ones. Consider what medical intervention you would want if you were in a persistent vegetative state or long-term coma. Do you have fears about your life ending? Is pain relief crucial to you, or do you want to remain alert and awake even if experiencing pain? Do you have religious or other beliefs that should be followed before you die? Who do you want with you as support? Do you want to be in a hospice care facility or at home? Questions that strike at the heart of mortality can be unsettling, but you may find a sense of peace when you have confronted and described them in a living will.

Talk About Your Choices

Speak to your family, estate planning attorney, and healthcare providers about your wishes. Sometimes they might challenge your thoughts or ask questions that help you better prepare your living will. If you are at odds with a medical doctor and can’t agree, it is best to seek new medical care to support your wishes. Include aspects for funeral arrangements, burial or cremation, and where you want to be when you die (if that is an option). Your estate planning attorney can explain your state’s legal requirements regarding signatures, witnesses, and other rules.

Tell your family, friends, and healthcare providers that you have a living will and keep legal copies on file in the appropriate places. Healthcare providers should put a current copy in your medical records at your hospital. Keep your original document in a safe place but also one that is easy to find. Some states have registries that store copies of your living will and other advance directives, and some will even provide healthcare workers access via computer. Some houses of worship may also store a copy of your living will for you. Talk to your estate planning attorney for input regarding your situation.

Creating and Reviewing Your Living Will

When do you create or review your living will? Since a living will only go into effect when you are deemed medically incapacitated, you can create one and change or cancel it at any time. Once completed, your living will is a legal document, and you can’t just tear up your copy and think existing copies will not be relevant. You must legally cancel your last living will to create a new one or have your lawyer make changes and provide copies of the new living will to family, healthcare providers, or wherever else you keep copies.

A good rule to follow for reviewing your living will include:

• Decade – At the beginning of each new decade of your life (the 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.)
• Divorce – Significant changes to your family or personal relationships
• Death – Your spouse or a close relative dies
• Diagnosis – You receive a diagnosis of a serious disease or health condition
• Decline – Your health diminishes, and you find self-care harder

Life is an uncertain experience. Those things you can control through legal preparation will benefit you and your family if you become incapacitated. Having a living will is for all adults, not just seniors. Younger individuals may take more risks and experience higher incidences of accidents, leaving them unable to make medical care decisions. Whatever your adult age preparing a living will brings peace of mind, protects your medical future as you wish, and reduces the decision-making burden on your family and loved ones. Get started with an estate planning attorney to implement this critical document.

We hope you found this article helpful. Contact our office at (740) 947-7277 and schedule a free consultation to discuss your legal matters. We look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

The post A Guide to Writing a Living Will appeared first on Seif & McNamee.

As you engage in the estate planning process, it can be difficult to know where to begin.

That’s why it can be so helpful to work with an experienced Ohio estate planning attorney—one who allows you to navigate complex issues related to living trusts, wills, general and durable power of attorney and advance healthcare directives, among many others.

Why hire an estate planning attorney?

Although it is possible to set up a will online, the one-size-fits-all approach is rarely appropriate for most Ohio families. In fact, you run the risk of making some key mistakes that can cost you significantly in the years ahead.

Estate planning attorneys enable you to distribute your assets and property to your loved one as you see fit. They know how to negotiate the often-complex legal framework associated with living and last wills. Some of the matters with which an estate lawyer can assist include the following:

Specifying beneficiaries in a last will

Ensuring assets get distributed per your wishes

Establishing who possesses power of attorney, which is critical if you were to become incapacitated and unable to make decisions for yourself

Creating a cohesive last will and testament, reducing the likelihood that someone tries to challenge it after your passing

Setting up your funeral and burial arrangements to reduce stress for your family members and friends

A tailored strategy for your estate planning needs

When searching for an estate law attorney, try to find a professional who takes the time to listen to your needs and goals, and then develops a strategy that works best for your specific situation. Any estate plan you establish should take all your life circumstances into account, including your marital status, children, total wealth and potential charitable contributions. A truly skilled estate planning lawyer will explain the options available to you and enable you to gain full peace of mind regarding the future.

Ultimately, working with an estate planner gives you and your family the assurance that you would not otherwise be able to achieve as you grow older. You may clarify exactly how you would like to distribute your assets so there are no questions or arguments among your loved ones following your death.

A qualified estate law attorney can also help you update your plan as needed based on major life changes. For example, it’s important to revisit your estate planning documents if you get divorced, enter a new marriage, have a child or experience a significant change in your income—good or bad. Working face-to-face with an attorney may also reduce miscommunication and gives you a means to discuss any potential concerns upfront.

If you would like to learn more about setting up wills, trusts or other mechanisms as you plan for the future, consult a skilled estate planning lawyer as soon as possible. It can be a great way to preserve more of your wealth and ensure you are taking care of your beneficiaries using the most effective means possible.

For answers to your estate law questions, reach out to a reputable Ohio attorney at Seif & McNamee, with conveniently located offices in Waverly and Chillicothe.

The post The Value of Working with an Estate Planning Attorney appeared first on Seif & McNamee.