Originally, living Wills were used mainly to state that someone wanted a natural death and didn’t want their life artificially prolonged. In many states, the living Will now covers other health care concerns, such as artificial feeding or resuscitation efforts. Living Wills are valid in all states and are legally binding on physicians and other health care providers.

A durable power of attorney for health care, also called a medical power of attorney, health care directive, or health care proxy, is another way to provide binding instructions about your health care desires.). It, too, is valid in all states. The durable power of attorney for health care allows you to appoint someone who will have the legal authority to make health care decisions for you if your cannot do it yourself.

You will recall the case of Terry Schiavo who, at only 26 years old, went into cardiac arrest and lapsed into a coma spending the next fifteen years in what doctors diagnosed as an irreversible persistent vegetative state. She was unable to make any medical decisions. Her husband believed she would not want to continue living that way and asked for her feeding tube to be removed, but her parents disagreed, causing numerous legal battles and debates.

Planning for such events while you are healthy will save your family a great deal of potential heartache and put the focus where it should be, on your wishes. This planning takes only two steps:

1. Prepare a living Will in case of medical emergency where you cannot make decisions for yourself. Spell out in detail exactly what kind of medical procedures you do or do not want performed on you. Also indicate whether or not you wish to be resuscitated and your wishes regarding other medical conditions, such as if you were comatose or in a persistent vegetative state. Include your family as you make these decisions so your wishes are clear and understood.
2. Create a durable power of attorney for health care. This allows you to designate someone to act as your sole decision maker. If it is your spouse, name an alternate in case you are both incapacitated, as might happen if you are both injured in an accident. Since living Wills cannot anticipate every situation, what you include in your living Will might not always apply. Your medical power of attorney, therefore, won’t have instructions for every situation so you will have to trust this person to make decisions that are best for you.

Should the need arise, your family will be grateful that you took the time to prepare for an unfortunate event.