Many people want to know what legal documents they need to make sure that, if they become sick or injured and can't speak for themselves, their end-of-life wishes are known and carried out. Advance directives are a set of documents that lay out a clear chain of command to help decision-makers understand the person's wishes about the kind of care they want in an emergency. It's a way for someone who can't say what they want or don't want to tell the person making the decision what they do and don't want.
A LIVING WILL IS A SET OF ADVANCE INSTRUCTIONS
Unlike Wills, which deal with things after a person dies, advance directives are usually used before a person dies and are a very important part of estate planning. A power of attorney for financial decisions, a power of attorney for health care decisions, and a Living Will are the three most common types of advance directives.
In a power of attorney for financial decisions, a person is named to make financial decisions for someone else. A financial power of attorney can give a person a lot of power to make important decisions about another person's assets.
A power of attorney for health care is similar to a power of attorney for finances in that it also names a person to make decisions on behalf of someone else.
When making a health care power of attorney, a person answers a number of questions to try to make it clear what kind of care they want based on their medical condition.
A LIVING WILL AND A POWER OF ATTORNEY
In some ways, a Living Will repeats the information in a power of attorney for health care. However, unlike a power of attorney, which can also cover situations in which a person may recover but needs someone to make their medical decisions for a while, a Living Will is just a directive saying that a person does not want "heroic measures" to keep them alive when there is no realistic chance of any meaningful recovery.
It is more important to give your loved ones the tools they need to deal with your inability to care for themselves (or even your death) knowing they are doing what you would have wanted.
