Living Will

[moosp]

I have tried a search for this but came up a blank.

Has anyone out in pprune land made a living will, that is one which expresses your wishes should you attain a vegetative state?

I understand they are well known in the USA but rarer under other jurisdictions. I intend to prepare a similar document for myself so I am looking for the right wording to give to my lawyers.

For instance, is there a standard form that I can boiler plate into a document? How legal is it in your country? Are your wishes simply wishes, and may they be over-ridden by the medical profession? Are they often challenged by family or creditors?

Any information would be welcome.

Many thanks,
Healthy and still sentient, thankfully.

[QDMQDMQDM]

Try the great God, Google. You'll find plenty of info like this:

http://www.tht.org.uk/publications/livingwill.htm

[Chief Whip]

Two useful sites on the subject:

http://www.livingwill.org.uk/

http://www.ves.org.uk/livingwills.html

[Whirlybird]

My mother had one. I think she just typed it out herself; I can't remember. I do remember that I got a phone call from the doctor; she was in hospital, had had a massive stroke, and they needed to know whether to resuscitate her or not. I told the doctor she had a Living Will, and so he shouldn't if there was no hope of recovery. It meant both he and I (as her next of kin) knew what to do (or not do). I don't think it had any legal status, but the doctor was quite happy to go along with it.

[QDMQDMQDM]

You'll find now that a living will in the UK has acquired a kind of quasi legal status. The advice we get these days is that a court is very unlikely to counteract the instructions in a living will. It certainly makes a doctor's life easier.

QDM

[moosp]

Thank you for these answers, both professional and personal. All useful.

Yes the GG Google is good, but somehow the human element of reading the opinion of a poster who you've read before on another thread gives the information more meaning.

[gingernut]

They seem to be very popular with Jehovah's Witnesses.

[moosp]

And also with managed health organisations, when you remember that most of your health costs are in your last year of life. If you can get more people volunteering to hang DNR notices at the end of their beds it reduces costs.

Here in HKG the Law Reform Society presented a paper in 2004 on "Substitute decision-making and advance directives in relation to medical treatment," and have recommended that advance directives be made law. As it stands the law here is as usual vague, and opinion on it states that "the decision of withholding or withdrawing life support should have sufficient participation of the patient himself, if possible..."

Tricky thing, life.