What’s a Living Will? Do I Need One?

We get asked a lot of legal questions, and one such question is: “What is a living will?” The term gets thrown around often, but here are the basics.

“What happens to me in a medical emergency??” A living will is a document that makes your wishes known regarding life prolonging medical treatments. Do you want to be kept on life support when in a vegetative state? Do you want to be administered pain medication? Do you want to be taken off life support if recovery seems impossible? These are all questions that will be addressed with a living will.

Better still, think about having an advance care directive usually called, in New Hampshire, ” A Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare.” Through this document you can provide your advance instructions regarding artificial life support devices, and name your “agent” who will make healthcare decisions for you when you cannot.

These documents are important to make sure your wishes are followed when you may not be in a mental or physical state to express them yourself. It is always better to take care of these matters ahead of time before it’s too late.  What is a living will? It is a document that will make sure your medical wishes are followed. If this is important to you, consider speaking with an attorney.

Give us a call today to discuss your options. It is ALWAYS FREE to talk to us for a consultation. 603-624-6655

Articles contained here are not intended to provide legal advice, only providing general information. We encourage individuals to consult with an attorney regarding individual circumstances.