FAQ’s: Living Wills

  1. What is a Living Will?
    1. A legal document, by which an individual gives notice to medical providers and others of his or her desires and wishes relating to the withholding or discontinuance of extraordinary means or artificial nutrition or hydration in the event that his or her condition is diagnosed as terminal and incurable or he or she is determined to be in a persistent vegetative state.
  2. What are “extraordinary means”?
    1. A medical procedure that serves only to postpone artificially the moment of death.
    2. An example may be someone on a ventilator or “life support,” but ONLY if that person were determined to be terminal and incurable or in a persistent vegetative state.
  3. What are “artificial nutrition” and/or “artificial hydration”?
    1. The provision or receipt of food (nutrition) or water (hydration) via feeding tubes.
  4. What is a “persistent vegetative state”?
    1. A condition whereby the patient suffers from a nearly complete loss of brain function, which is irreversible.
  5. Who determines if I am in a “persistent vegetative state”?
    1. One or more of your treating physicians.
    2. You may specify the particular physician who you would prefer to make this determination.
  6. If I have a Health Care Power of Attorney, do I really need a Living Will?
    1. The documents have two different purposes.
    2. The Living Will allows you to indicate a choice, without leaving the choice exclusively to your Health Care Agent.
  7. Can I have both a Living Will and a Health Care Power of Attorney?
    1. Yes. If the two documents are inconsistent, your Living Will controls.