Miscellaneous Forum

Have any of you out there made a living will, or do any of you out there know someone else who has made a living will, and if so, what does it entail?
Do you need your Dr to sign it for you to make it legal, or will people like your own family be able to countersign it to make it stand?


Thank you ... Elodie

hi darling, this is a good atricle for general info, http://www.bbc.co.uk/relationships/coping_with_grief/terminalillness_livingwills.shtml and you can get more detailed info at http://www.euthanasia.cc/

Thank you very much, Berni, darling, it's much appreciated :-)

love Elodie

OK..much to my chagrin I am going to answer this from what I have learned...I don't have a living will, but Jaeda has been instructed as to what to do, mainly DO NOT LET MY IMMEDIATE SIBLINGS TELL YOU WHAT TO DO, Do what I told you to do. She and 'Buggs get everything, and my body is to be cremated. Legally, I have learned that you need something notarized that states that you are of sane mind, etc, et al by some legal entity, to follow through with your wishes. One's family must be in agreement with your wishes in order to come up against the medical field.~

Thanks, Purple :-) My husband has known for ages what I want if it comes to it, then yesterday evening I sat with my husband and my sister, Mel, and told them both, in laughing ways, because that's the only way I can do it, what I want if the worst comes to the worst. I know they will follow my wishes, they know what I've asked is really important to me. It was my sister's idea about the living will so that bo one else can poke their noses in. I've asked a lot from them if it comes to it, but I know they'll do it for me.

I'm probably just being a big old drama queen, but I have to think of the worst at the moment. It seems weird, I'm planning for not having much of a future, but can't bring myself to plan for if I do have one, strange eh?

Not really strange, just fear at its best. I understand where you are coming from. Namaste~

I think everyone should have one, no matter have well/ill you are, after all you may get knocked over by a bus tomorrw

To be honest, Jen, I'd rather drop like a fly and quickly, rather than go slowly and know about it.

Hi Elodie,
Its always good to have a Will. There are many factors to be considered - depends where you live,how much is involved and whom you want to give a share. The bigger the largesse, its better to register the Will in the Court. Have it drawn up by a Lawyer, read through it to satisfy yourself that its what you want, then have it done officially. It is better not to have a family member countersign as one of two witnesses.
I hope this is helpful.

I don't know the laws in your country Ells, but over here a living will is not a directive, it's a guide. That means family can over ride the person's wishes. So our laws have created a legally binding document called a Durable Medical Power of Attorney. You can appoint a person (family or not) who is charged with following your wishes. The family cannot override the directions of the appointed person.

There is also a great form online called a Values Ethics Form: it asks all sorts of questions and gets you thinking about all sorts of medically related things that even I, as a nurse, never thought about. It was created for cancer patients, but I filled my first on out in my 20s and gave it to my decision makers to guide them.
http://hsc.unm.edu/ethics/advdir/vhform_eng.shtml
*That page gives info on what it is, the link for the actual form is at the bottom of the page. It's a long doc, so be aware if you decide to print it out.*

I chose to create my Medical Power of Attorney as where I live, being single, my parents are my legal decision makers if I become incapacitated. I didn't want them in the position to make a decision to let me go if something bad happened, so I took the power for them to make decisions away. In this way my wishes can be respected, and they won't have the same guilt issues afterwards.

They are easily drawn up in many places in the U.S and they do provide peace of mind. I've had one for years and it makes it easy on family too.

You do want it done correctly so that there is no hesitation when it comes to carrying out your wishes and I went thru an attorney of estate planning so it was part of a package but I believe it was offered singly for a nominal fee.


TTS

Hi Jenny,
I don't have anything wealth-wise to leave anyone, so that part doesn't really matter. I'm talking about the kind of will that your loved ones adhere to if you're rendered incapacitated by illness, like if you're in a coma, that kind of thing. Thank you very much for your kind interest anyway.

Thank you very much Kymba and Ann. I know that my sister and my husband would respect my wishes if the worst come to the worst, so I'm not really worried about someone overriding my decision if and when I can't do it for myself... I'd bloody-well haunt them with my handbag if they did! lol. I've even told my hubby what he's to do with me if I became like a zombie, I certainly don't want to be left in some rundown old council run home, I'd much rather be dead, but not here, he knows where he's got to take me :-)

The health values ethics form I linked in this thread is awesome for helping your family figure out what you'd want done in all sorts of medical situations ... I encourage EVERYONE to fill one out!