The recent Terri Schiavo case illustrated the importance of having a Living Will. More importantly, it also, unfortunately, illustrated the pitfalls of not having one.
A Living Will (or, in Pennsylvania, an Advance Directive for Health Care) allows you to choose someone to make health care decisions if you are unable to do so, and to direct whether life-sustaining procedures should be used if you have a terminal condition or are permanently unconscious. It must be signed before two witnesses, and no notary is required. It goes into effect only when your attending physician determines that you lack sufficient capacity to make or communicate decisions and that you lack sufficient capacity to make or communicate decisions and that you are in a terminal condition or in a state or permanent unconsciousness.
A Living Will, therefore, is an excellent, if not imperative, tool to have in order to ensure that your own desires are followed in the case of such an unfortunate event.
Please refer to my website, www.johnbwhalenjr.com, for further information.
