Living Wills and Other Advance Directives: A Primer


Published On: August 19th, 2009

There’s been lots of political talk lately about end-of-life care. But whatever your political leanings, an advance directive can be a good way to plan ahead and get the kind of medical care you want.

The WSJ’s Melinda Beck this morning gives us the most recent information. Among the highlights:

  • There are two main types of directives. A living will explains what kind of life support you’d want in various situations. And a health-care durable power of attorney or health-care proxy allows you to appoint someone to make decisions for you if you are unable to do so.
  • Forms often include brief options about hypothetical care situations, such as being put on a ventilator. Some also allow you to state that you want life support to be started but then stopped if it’s not doing any good, or to say whether you want pain medication, even though it might hasten death.
  • Advance directives are considered in effect after you sign them — with a witness — but it’s important to tell family members about them or file them in a place where they can be found.

The best time to discuss these issues is well before you need to invoke any life support decision-making, notes Beck.

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Living Wills and Other Advance Directives: A Primer

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