A Directive to Physicians (also called a Living Will) is a legal document that allows you to express your wishes for future medical treatment when you are unable to express them or are near death.

A Directive to Physicians (also called a Living Will or Advance Directive) is a legal document that allows you to express your wishes for future medical treatment when you are unable to express them or are near death. The document allows people who clearly do not want their lives prolonged to make their wishes known.

Your Directive to Physicians is only used if you have a terminal condition as certified by two physicians, where life-sustaining treatment would only prolong the process of dying; or you are certified by two physicians to be in an irreversible coma or other permanent unconscious condition and there is no reasonable hope of recovery. In either situation, your directive allows treatment to be withheld or withdrawn so that you may die naturally.

In your Directive to Physicians, you may also direct whether you would like artificially provided nutrition (food) and hydration (water) stopped in the above situations. You may also give further written instructions regarding your care. If you have given someone else authority for making decisions, through a Health Care Power of Attorney, you may also direct that person to follow and honor your Directive to Physicians. You can change or revoke your Directive to Physicians at any time.

Your Directive to Physicians must be signed by you and two witnesses who are not related to you by blood or marriage and who will not inherit anything from you. Your witnesses may not be your attending physician, an employee of your attending physician, or a an employee of health care facility in which you are a patient.

Your Directive is valid indefinitely, unless it contains a predetermined expiration date, or it is specifically revoked by you in a separate writing. Your Directive should be reviewed from time-to-time to insure it accurately reflects your current wishes.

A Directive to Physicians that meets the requirements of your home state may not meet the requirements of other states. Most states, however, will recognize a properly completed Directive that is legally executed in another state. If you have a dual residency or spend a lot of time in another state, you may wish to consider having your Directive meet the laws of both states to the extent possible.

You should make sure that your Directive to Physicians has been properly signed, dated, and witnessed by two adults, each of whom should NOT be a person who is also designated as your Health Care Agent, if any is appointed, to avoid any appearance of coercion. Keep the original with the rest of your important papers and in a location where your family can find it in case of an emergency. Safe deposit boxes are not a good place to keep your Directive because your family may not have access to the box without a court order, which may take time to obtain. If someone else has authorized access to your safe deposit box, you may place a copy of your Directive in your box together with a note of where the original may be found.

Give copies of your completed Directive to your family, your doctors, health care providers, your Health Care Agent, if any is appointed, and anyone else who is likely to be called if you experience a medical emergency. You should instruct these people to present a copy of the form to any hospital, health care provider, or medical personnel upon demand.

If you anticipate surgery or hospitalization, you should bring a copy of your Directive with you and give it the hospital admittance personnel. A copy of your Directive, rather than the original, may be relied upon by your doctors in most instances.

Before you begin giving your Directive to your family, doctors, and others, as mentioned above, you should first create a list of people who you intend on giving it to, including their addresses and telephone numbers. You should attach this list to the original for safe keeping. Should you ever decide to change or revoke your Directive, you will need to know who you gave previous directives to so not to cause confusion in a time of need or in case of an emergency. Anyone who subsequently receives your Directive should be added to your list.

You are free to revoke your Directive to Physicians at any time. This can be done with a revocation document or simply destroying the original Directive. To insure that the revocation is recognized, you should inform both your doctor and other health care providers so that they are fully aware of your decision. You should do this, in writing, as soon as possible after revoking your Directive. You should also send notice of your decision to everyone on the list you created of people who have received a copy of your Directive.

You should discuss your Directive to Physicians with your doctor and family members. If you have any legal questions or concerns about the use and effect of this directive, give us a call at 253.858.5434 and we would be happy to discuss them with you.