A living will allows you to share your medical wishes as part of your overall estate plan. In a living will, you can specify preferences such as receiving care at home, the use of life support, resuscitation measures, and organ donation. This gives you peace of mind knowing that if a time comes when you cannot speak for yourself, your plan is ready to speak for you.
How do I start my living will?
New Jersey provides a statutory form that can be completed without the assistance of an attorney. However, these decisions involve deep personal and moral values and complex medical choices. You should not take them lightly because every person’s health situation is unique. Because the law and medical terms can be confusing, an attorney can be a great partner. A legal professional will ask the right questions to make sure your document covers your specific needs, fits adequately with your estate plan and follows New Jersey law perfectly.
Care at Home or Hospital
You have the power to decide where you want to receive medical treatment. Some people prefer the comfort of their own home surrounded by family. Others feel safer in a hospital with doctors and machines nearby. Your living will let you state these preferences clearly so your family knows exactly where you feel most comfortable during a recovery or at the end of your life.
Life Support
Life support includes machines that breathe for you or help your heart keep beating when your body cannot do it alone. Your instruction directive can state you want life-sustaining treatment withheld or withdrawn in any of the following situations:
- you are permanently unconscious
- you are in a terminal condition
- the life-sustaining treatment would likely only prolong an imminent death
- the life-sustaining treatment would likely be ineffective
- you have a serious irreversible condition and the life-sustaining treatment would likely be more harmful than beneficial
Setting these boundaries helps your doctors understand your definition of quality of life.
Resuscitation
If your heart stops beating or you stop breathing, medical teams usually perform CPR or use electric shocks to restart your heart. In your living will, you can decide if you want these emergency resuscitation measures.
For instance, you can decide if you want doctors to try and save your life with Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or not, as long as it’s not something that medical professionals think is useless or harmful. If you choose not to have CPR, you would be allowed to die naturally.
Tube Feeding
When a person can no longer eat or drink on their own, doctors may use tubes to provide liquid food and water. This is a significant medical decision. You can specify if you want tube feeding for a short time to help you recover, or if you want to avoid it entirely if there is no hope of getting better.
Organ Donation
Your living will can also cover what happens after you pass away. You can state your wishes regarding organ and tissue donation, which can save the lives of others. Making these choices now saves your grieving family from having to make difficult guesses during a painful time.