A “living will” is a colloquial name for a document that is more formally referred to as a patient’s “instructions for medical care.” These instructions are included as part of an individual’s advance healthcare directive, along with a medical power of attorney and a designation of their primary physician.
These documents serve a critical purpose in stating your healthcare wishes, especially when you couldn’t express them yourself. Your living will and the rest of your advance healthcare directive only activate after you have been incapacitated. Incapacity must first be determined by two qualified medical care professionals, one of whom can be the primary physician you designated.
While it can be uncomfortable to think about serious medical situations, preparing for these moments ensures that your wishes can be understood and documented in a legally enforceable way. A lawyer in Santa Fe who is familiar with living wills can walk you through your options and help you with all of the key decisions involved. You can also get guidance on other forms of incapacity planning, such as whether you would want to supplement your advance directive with a financial power of attorney.
Get started now to help your medical teams and loved ones make the right decisions when the time comes. Call our law firm at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online to discuss your living will with an attorney during a confidential, no-obligation consultation.
To create a living will, all you have to do is create (or find) a document that clearly and sufficiently describes your wishes for care in the event of your incapacitation. In your document, make sure to distinguish between the types of care you would wish for in a situation where you would be likely to recover, versus your preferences in a situation where your recovery was unlikely.
You can use a standard statutory advance healthcare directive form to communicate your wishes. However, you may prefer to use this form as a starting point for creating a customized living will. This method ensures that you can capture the nuance of your beliefs, values, and intended outcomes.
After reviewing the primary decisions available and going over your wishes with a Santa Fe living will lawyer, you can draft a personalized version of these documents. By creating a one-of-a-kind version of a living will, you can clearly promote your choices while providing detailed guidance to your providers, loved ones, and healthcare decision-maker.
Regardless of the type of document that you use for your living will, you should date and sign it.
You can express your healthcare wishes orally or through other means of communication at any time (while you still have mental capacity) to a healthcare provider or a person designated as your healthcare agent. Putting your wishes in writing, however, makes them harder to refute. This documentation reduces the risk of conflict or mixed opinions when the time comes to act out your requests.
On a related note, it is important to know that your designation of an agent who can make healthcare decisions for you, AKA power of attorney for healthcare, must be in writing and signed by you to be effective. You can have the document notarized if you wish to avoid disputes regarding the authenticity of your signature.
Speak to a Santa Fe will lawyer to understand all of the steps and documents you may need. With the right preparation, you can fully capture your wishes for care, increasing the likelihood that you retain comfort and dignity even after your incapacitation.
Your living will can cover any preferences you have for your healthcare. However, the most essential information to cover in a living will is whether or not you would like the following forms of care while incapacitated with a low likelihood of recovery:
Weigh each decision carefully, as it will affect your available options for treatment during a medical emergency. You can go over your options with a Santa Fe living will lawyer, who can help you record your instructions for care in clear, legally enforceable language.
Below, we have outlined most of these categories in greater detail to help you understand how your choices may impact your level of care, comfort, and dignity in a dire medical situation.
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure that can potentially restart the heart’s natural rhythms after cardiac arrest. The technique consists of performing chest compressions and forcing air into the patient’s lungs.
Unfortunately, patients have a low chance of recovery from cardiac arrest, and CPR can only minimally improve those chances. A review of statistics by NPR found that CPR only barely increased the survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, going from 7.6% to 10% if a bystander initiated CPR. Hospital patients receiving CPR had a slightly higher survival rate of 17%.
But these numbers get less promising for older patients. Patients older than 70 only had a 6.7% survival rate after receiving out-of-hospital CPR. Patients over 90: just 2.4%. These patients have only a 30% chance, on average, of functioning independently after receiving CPR.
CPR can lead to broken ribs, ruptured lungs, and other traumatic injuries. Patients who are older or suffering from debilitating chronic conditions are less likely to benefit from these procedures compared to the general population. Accordingly, you can state your preference regarding whether or not you want to be resuscitated using this technique. Your preferences can also include whether you wish to be defibrillated or intubated when your heart stops beating.
Because techniques like CPR and defibrillation are used in the heat of a medical emergency, you want to be sure that the language you use in your living will and other documents is clear and unambiguous. You can meet with a Santa Fe living will lawyer to draft up the appropriate documents to inform your agent, loved ones, and care teams about when you would or would not want such measures to be used in an attempt to revive you.
A mechanical ventilator — commonly known as a “breathing machine” — can keep the blood oxygenated while removing carbon dioxide from tissues. This therapeutic intervention can keep a patient alive while they recover. It is considered necessary in some cases where the patient is:
Air can be introduced through a mask, a tube inserted down the patient’s throat (intubation), or a surgical incision in the patient’s trachea (tracheostomy). Intubated patients are often sedated, as being conscious can make the patient gag or feel discomfort.
You can state your preferences for mechanical ventilation, including which types you would wish to receive in specific situations. Discuss your preferences with an experienced attorney from a Santa Fe living will law firm to ensure that your documentation provides clear instructions.
Artificial nutrition provides essential nutrients when a patient is unable to eat or refuses to eat on their own. Nutrition is provided by a continuous drip using a tube inserted directly into the patient’s stomach, either through their nose and throat or through an incision in their abdomen.
In some cases, nutrition is instead supplied via an IV infusion. An IV can also be used to supply the patient with fluids and medicine.
Delivering artificial nutrition can be effective for short-term hospital stays where the patient is likely to recover. In older patients and those with a terminal illness, however, the body may have trouble absorbing the nutrients and fluids. This situation can lead to a buildup of fluid and painful swelling.
In your living will, you can decide whether you would want to receive artificial nutrition and hydration. Your wishes can include different preferences based on your condition, your likelihood of recovery, and the delivery method used.
In an emergency, a provider may recommend that a patient undergo surgery so that a pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) can be inserted. For patients with minimal comorbidities, the outcome of this procedure is frequently positive. However, patients with a poor prognosis may never fully recover.
You can include your wishes for surgical interventions, including the insertion of a pacemaker or ICD, in your living will. These wishes can include different requests and guidance based on the likely outcome of your condition. You can refer to a Santa Fe living will lawyer to ensure that your wishes are recorded clearly, accurately, and in a way that can be useful to your care teams.
You can use your living will to describe the types of medical therapies you would be open to receiving while incapacitated, versus those you would refuse. For example, you can request that you receive pain-relieving medications during hospice care, or you can state that you would rather avoid their use.
Dictating the types of medications you receive can ensure that you remain comfortable and true to your beliefs, even when you are incapacitated. At the same time, it can limit your care options. Accordingly, you can state what you would wish to happen in a situation where you would be likely to recover from the proposed therapies compared to a situation where recovery or significant improvement was unlikely. You can also defer these treatment decisions to your healthcare proxy. They can consult with your medical teams to come to the most appropriate conclusion, given the other wishes you have expressed.
An NM MOST is an official medical order document, one that requires your healthcare teams to follow certain instructions you provide to them. It is an essential component for end-of-life planning. However, you are only able to obtain one in a situation where you are seriously ill or frail with a low chance of making a significant recovery.
Like a MOST, a DNR is a medical order issued by a doctor. The MOST form has replaced the DNR as a medical directive since it covers more information and can apply to a broader range of situations.
Similar to a living will, a MOST form specifies your preferences for treatment in a medical situation where you are unlikely to recover. For example, it can document whether you wish to remain at home rather than be transported to a hospital. It also provides for different categories of possible medical interventions. For example, you can request that all available efforts be used to attempt to extend your life, including transport to a nearby facility. Or, you can request that care teams seek only to provide you with comfort, preferably in a familiar setting like your home.
The MOST form is only available in New Mexico when you can converse freely with your provider. Providers will not issue one until you have a diagnosed or suspected condition that is either life-threatening or severely debilitating. Accordingly, you must have the capacity to discuss your prognosis, options, and preferences with your provider before they will issue one for you.
Unlike an advance directive, the MOST form is a standardized document written in language that would be familiar to medical providers. While providers are legally obligated to obey both documents, the MOST serves as a direct order from a physician, rather than an expression of your wishes. The form can be highly beneficial for patients who have the mental capacity to dictate what they would want. However, an advance healthcare directive can apply to more situations, since it is completed before your possible incapacitation and remains effective beyond that point.
Both documents are legally enforceable ways to capture your preferences for treatment when you are in a life-threatening medical state. One (your living will) is created to be enduring, while the other (the MOST) is issued in response to the emergence of a terminal medical condition.
You can include instructions for your healthcare decision-maker to request a MOST form as part of your living will. Speak to a Santa Fe living will lawyer for guidance to ensure that your instructions are clear and capable of producing the outcome you want.
Your last will and testament is used after your death to appoint an executor, name a guardian for any dependents, and state your preferences for distributing your estate to your heirs.
A “living will” is a colloquial phrase, one that is likely used because the document activates when you are in a near-death or unconscious state. The term “instructions for healthcare” is more likely to be used in a legal or medical setting, but most professionals can understand what you mean when you refer to a living will.
If you would like assistance with creating a regular will as part of your preparations, you can refer to a Santa Fe estate planning attorney for guidance.
If you want someone who can provide you with information and advice in a compassionate way, come to New Mexico Financial Law. Our Santa Fe law firm possesses a high degree of collective experience and knowledge that can be leveraged to help you create a living will. Our dedicated attorneys can also help with creating or modifying other aspects of your estate plan. When you are ready to feel prepared for the future, we are ready to help. Schedule your confidential, no-obligation case review when you call (505) 503-1637 or contact us online.
CallCall now to schedule your consultation 505.503.1637
Office