Why Drawing Up A Living Will Is Important For You and Those You Love

Back in 2005, the tube that kept Terri Schiavo alive in a persistent vegetative state was removed. Since suffering brain damage, she had been on life support for over a decade. But as she had lain in the hospital, her husband, and mother and father were in a fierce legal battle over her life: her husband argued that Terri would not have wanted to live in a vegetative state, while her parents fought to keep her on life support.

The problem was that no one knew what Terri really wanted, because she had left no living will.  If she had left a will, then all the inter-family fighting, court battles, and media circus could have been avoided.

Living wills are not only for those who are approaching the latter years of life. Whether you are a young adult or senior, married or single, childless or have a family, a living will is the best way to ensure that your desires are met if you were to run into a major health issue that precluded you from making your wishes verbally known.  It’s also important to know that once your child reaches the legal age of majority, you are unable to make decisions for them, and therefore, as difficult as it is to think about, it is important for them to name someone to act on their behalf.

A living will is a document that states what type of treatment you want or don’t want should you become ill and unable to express your wishes in words. For instance, you could write down that you want all necessary measures to keep you alive, or none at all letting nature takes its course.

If you suffer from a chronic illness, it is particularly important that you have a living will, for not only will it ensure that your wishes are met for the ultimate treatment you want to receive, but it will also take the pressure off loved ones who would otherwise have to make very difficult decisions about your medical care.

Each province deals with living will differently. In Ontario a living will is called “power of attorney for personal care” and can be used to appoint anyone over the age of 16 to make medical decisions on your behalf.

Note that your living will is different from your “last will and testament,” which covers only the distribution of your property after you die, and does not include wishes of personal medical treatment while you are still alive. A “last will and testament” should be revisited every 5-years, and changed if your life has undergone a major change, such as marriage or divorce.

If you choose to write your will yourself, you must follow all of the provincial-specific regulations to make it a legal document. It might be good to talk to a lawyer, and even submit him/her a copy, to ensure it is indeed a legal will.

There are two things that go into a living will:

1.              A proxy directive, namely the person whom you have appointed to make decisions for you. Parents often choose one of their adult children as their proxy directive. It’s important to first speak to the proxy to ensure that he/she is comfortable with such a responsibility. As well, it is important to speak specifically about the different scenarios covered in your will to ensure there is adequate understanding. You may also want to consider naming more than one person as your proxy, which might enhance support and the handling of a difficult decision; and

2.              Instruction directives, which describe the treatments you would like to receive under different circumstances. If you have a chronic illness, it will be important to have your doctor walk you through the various scenarios surrounding your illness, and the relevant treatment options. If you have no such record, a visit with your doctor can still be beneficial in terms of understanding the various kinds of illnesses and medical treatments and how they can affect your quality of life.

Remember, you can change your mind any time about your proxy, or the various instruction directives; however, if you make such changes in your mind, you must also make them to your living will.

As well, once it is completed, it is important to tell people about it, and hand out copies to your friends and loved-ones and your doctor and lawyer. You may even want to have a copy with you when you’re traveling just in case.