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A Living Will is a legal
document addressing only deathbed considerations; a client
unilaterally declares his/her desire that life-prolonging
measures be discontinued when there is no hope of ultimate
recovery.
On the other hand, people
use a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care to appoint
someone to make all healthcare decisions, limited by
certain elections regarding deathbed issues.
The client must be at least
18 years old and mentally competent at the time he/she
executes either document but incompetent to participate in
the decision-making process when either is implemented. It
is important to remember that both documents are only
applicable if the client is incompetent.
Under the a Living Will, a
client declares that if he/she is certified to have an
incurable, terminal injury/illness and/or to be
permanently unconscious by two examining physicians
(including the client's attending physician), that
artificial life-support systems be withheld or
disconnected. The client may also elect to discontinue
artificial nutrition and hydration (intravenous feeding)
by so designating on the form. (Find more information at:
legalhelper.net/living-will.aspx)
Under the Health Care Power
of Attorney, the client makes three separate and
independent elections authorizing the agent:
1. To direct disconnection
of artificial life-support systems in the event of
terminal illness;
2. To direct disconnection
of artificial life-support systems in the event of
irreversible coma; and
3. To direct
discontinuation of artificial nutrition and hydration.
In addition, the Health
Care Power of Attorney form provides a space for the
client to set forth any specific medical, religious or
other desires concerning his/her health care. The client
may also use this section as a backup source for organ
donation. (Find more information at:
legalhelper.net/power-of-attorney.aspx)
Both documents are signed
in front of two witnesses and a notary public or a justice
of the peace who acknowledges the client's signature. The
witnesses to a Living Will are sworn by the notary
public/justice of the peace and indicate that the client
is at least 18 years of age and signed the instrument as a
free and voluntary act.
The Living Will witnesses
may not be the client's spouse, attending physician,
heirs-at-law or person with claims against the client's
estate.
The Health Care Power of
Attorney witnesses may not be the designated agent, the
client, spouse or heir or person entitled to any portion
of the client's estate upon death under Will, Trust or
operation of law.
People are frequently
confused as to why both a Living Will and Health Care
Power of Attorney are necessary or appropriate. The Living
Will is helpful as a backup document: In the event that
the client enters an irreversible coma and the health care
agents designated in the Health Care Power of Attorney are
deceased or unloadable, the Living Will sets forth the
desires of the client concerning his/her death-bed
treatment which may be followed by attending physicians.
The law provides that to the extent that a Durable Power
of Attorney conflicts with a Living Will, the Health Care
Power of Attorney controls. Copies of both the Durable
Power of Attorney for Health Care and the Living Will are
forwarded to the client's primary care physician for
inclusion in medical records.
Both documents are
revocable through normal revocation procedures.
Note that LegalHelper.net
provides an easy-to-use, quick, and economical online
method for creating completed legal documents for any
occasions.
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