Why Your Parents Need a Living Will

If your parents become unable to make decisions about their end-of-life care, a living will is one of the documents that can help ensure they receive the treatment they want. But it has benefits for you, too—namely, the peace of mind that comes from knowing you are following their wishes. Indeed, living wills aren’t just for seniors. Sanford J. Mall, a nationally certified elder-law attorney with Mall Malisow & Cooney, in Farmington Hills, Mich., explains why everyone needs one.

Q: What is a living will?

A: A living will, sometimes called an advanced health directive or a medical power of attorney, is a legally enforceable document that identifies a patient's end-of-life wishes. It can specify that you want the cessation of treatment under a specific set of conditions—when you want to "pull the plug," in other words. Most people draw the line in one of three ways.

• If they're in a coma or a persistent vegetative state and there's no hope for recovery.
  
  
• If they're not in a coma, but have lost so much cognitive function that the doctor feels there's no hope for recovery.
  
  
• If there's a terminal illness with no hope for recovery.

A living will does not authorize someone else to act on your behalf for medical decisions. You need a health-care proxy for that.

Q: Who should have a living will?

A: Anybody who is older than 18 and competent. If you are sure you don’t want to be put on artificial support, and don’t want to have extraordinary measures used to sustain your life, then you should sign a living will. Remember the case of Terri Schiavo: Her husband and her parents fought a seven-year legal battle over removing her feeding tube, with some 20 judges ruling on whether there was sufficient evidence that she would want to stop treatment. If it had been in writing, would you need 20 judges, or all the heartache and family strife? No.