Living Will Attorneys
Meet Your Living Will Attorneys
A living will is an indispensable tool that grants individuals agency over their medical care, even when they can’t speak for themselves. Establishing a living will requires thoughtful reflection on one’s values and wishes. Working with a compassionate estate planning attorney at Clear Counsel Law Group can provide guidance in what may feel like a journey through uncharted territory. Our living will attorneys can help you work through all the options.
What Makes a Living Will Different?
While a traditional will handles your assets after death, a living will speaks for you during medical emergencies. This vital document, also called an advance directive, expresses your healthcare choices when illness or injury prevents you from communicating. Our Nevada living will attorneys at Clear Counsel Law Group help you craft clear instructions that protect your wishes.
Your Medical Choices Matter
Your living will focuses entirely on your healthcare decisions. It clearly states your preferences about medical treatments, life-support measures, and end-of-life care. This spares your family from difficult guesswork during emotional times and ensures healthcare providers follow your exact wishes. Our Las Vegas attorneys help you think through these important choices and document them properly.
Creating Your Personalized Living Will
Every person has unique views about their medical care. At Clear Counsel Law Group, we take time to discuss your specific preferences in detail. Our experienced attorneys know Nevada’s healthcare laws inside and out, ensuring your living will meets all legal requirements while clearly expressing your personal choices.
Your living will combines deeply personal medical decisions with important legal requirements. Let our caring attorneys help you create a document that truly reflects your healthcare wishes while giving your family the guidance they need during challenging times. Contact Clear Counsel Law Group today to discuss your living will with our experienced team.
Elements to Include in a Living Will
A living will is a deeply personal document, reflecting your values and wishes. You need to consider a lot of elements to ensure your wishes are known and to cover diverse scenarios. Speak with your living will attorney to get good advice on everything that should be considered.
Life-Sustaining Measures: This is the crux of many living wills. An individual can specify if they would like treatments such as resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, or tube feeding in a situation where these measures would be the only way to keep them alive.
Pain Management: Even if someone chooses to decline life-sustaining treatments, they might still wish to receive pain management or palliative care to remain comfortable. Decisions about pain are best made with a clear head. Some may want to be taken care of in specific settings, such as home, or be given special accommodations, such as depression management.
Organ and Tissue Donation: A living will can specify if an individual wants their organs or tissues donated after death and for what purposes, be it transplantation, research, or education.
DNR Orders: A Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order can be part of a living will, stating that the individual does not want efforts made to restart their heart or breathing if they stop.
Specific Medical Procedures: Beyond life-sustaining treatments, an individual might have strong feelings about certain procedures, medications, or interventions. For instance, they might stipulate conditions under which they would or wouldn’t want dialysis, chemotherapy, transfusions, or surgical interventions.
End-of-Life Rituals: Some people wish to include provisions for rituals or practices they want performed or avoided in their final moments, depending on their cultural, spiritual, or personal beliefs.
These are not simply mechanical considerations, as many hold deeper significance to individuals and their beliefs. Nobody should be put on the spot to make these decisions about someone else. It’s paramount to note that a living will can’t possibly anticipate every medical decision that might arise. Therefore, many people pair it with another document: a durable power of attorney for healthcare. This complementary document designates a trusted individual to make healthcare decisions on their behalf, using the living will as a guide.
Distribution and Updates
Once a living will is created, it should be shared with one’s primary care physician and included in medical records. It’s also wise to provide copies to the designated healthcare proxy and close family members so that it’s easily accessible when needed. Regularly reviewing and updating a living will, especially after significant health changes, ensures that it remains aligned with one’s evolving wishes.
Misunderstandings or ambiguities in a living will can lead to distressing disputes among loved ones during already challenging times. With guidance from an experienced estate planning attorney at Clear Counsel Law Group, such pitfalls can be avoided, ensuring the individual’s true intentions are honored without contention.