If you’ve seen a medical drama on TV, you may have heard the term living will. Simply put, a living will is a legal document in which a person lays out their wishes regarding medical care in the event that they are incapacitated and rendered unable to make those decisions for themselves. Although many people find it morbid or upsetting to contemplate dire medical circumstances and end-of-life care, we at Bennett Guthrie PLLC encourage everyone to make these decisions for themselves while they are still able to do so. In this article, we’ll go over the two main reasons why we believe you need a living will.
- Retain Autonomy- Accidents can happen to anyone, at any time, so it’s a good idea to have something in place should the worst happen. If you become incapacitated and unable to communicate due to an injury, a stroke, or some other reason, you won’t be able to voice your own wishes about decisions need to be made regarding your care. Having a living will is a way to ensure that you retain that autonomy and that any medical decisions will remain in your hands by thinking through the various scenarios that may arise and determining how you would like them handled.
- Spare Loved Ones- Another reason that we at Bennett Guthrie PLLC encourage our clients to make a living will is that having one will spare your loved ones a lot of distress and uncertainty in the event that you do become incapacitated. Having to make important medical decisions is already difficult and emotional when they concern your own body but imagine how much worse the pain of that choice would be if you had to make it on behalf of a loved one who couldn’t speak for themselves. With a living will in place, you’ll spare your loved ones the burden of having to make emergency or end-of-life medical decisions for you, and instead give them the comfort that whatever happens is in accordance with your wishes.
We at Bennett Guthrie PLLC, hope that you’ll think about this issue and consider making a living will for yourself. If you are ready to get started, simply give us a call to begin drafting this important document.