Living Wills

A living will is one form of advance directive that provides specific written instructions for doctors as to what medical actions should be taken. A person can declare by means of a living will that she or he does not want certain life-sustaining procedures carried out, in case she or he is suffering from a terminal condition and is no longer mentally competent to give consent to life-sustaining procedures or specific medical treatments. Generally, the author of a living will does not wish to have her or his life sustained and desires to die unencumbered by medical technology or directs which specific medical treatments will be the last means of keeping her or him alive. The instrument serves as a personal declaration of a free ...