Advance Health Care Directives to Make Your Wishes Known
The infamous Terry Schiavo case put a spotlight on a sad scenario that plays out every day in hospitals and health care facilities across America. If you were dying, or in a coma and unable to communicate, would your doctors and loved ones know your wishes?
An advance health care directive, commonly known as a "living will", provides guidance to family members and medical professionals regarding extraordinary life support measures and end-of-life care. The estate planning lawyers of Cushing & Dolan, P.C., can help you clearly express your wishes so that they are respected and loved ones do not have to make heart-wrenching decisions.
We provide estate planning services in the Greater Boston area, throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire and beyond, including preparation of living wills. Contact us today to arrange a free consultation.
Your Massachusetts Living Will
Our attorneys will help you declare what measures you do or do not want under various scenarios such as persistent vegetative state (brain death), coma, cardiac arrest, congestive heart failure or the advanced stages of cancer.
An advance health care directive is not a yes-or-no proposition. For example, you may want some "heroic measures," such as resuscitation and blood transfusions, but not others, such as intubation or intravenous sustenance. You might want to be kept alive indefinitely, or you might want to be "let go" if one or more qualified doctors conclude you will not recover consciousness.
Your living will can also address such topics as hospitalization versus home care, delivery of pain medications, and whom you do or do not want present at the time of your impending death. Typically, we also encourage clients to appoint one or more health care agents who can make medical decisions if you become mentally or physically incapacitated.
Massachusetts Advance Health Care Directives Attorneys
If you find these issues uncomfortable to discuss or decide, imagine how hard it would be for your spouse or children. Our experienced and compassionate attorneys are skilled at gently raising the topic and explaining the multitude of options to ensure that your health care directive is clear and covers all the bases. Call 617-523-1555 or e-mail us to arrange a consultation at one of our six convenient office locations.
