LIVING WILLS
Memphis Living Will Attorney
Have you considered what type and level of care you would like to receive if you are comatose or seriously-injured and unable to communicate with doctors and healthcare workers? Your wishes and desires – some of which may be born of deeply-held religious or philosophical convictions – may be ignored and disregarded if you are not able to communicate them with healthcare workers. Fortunately, a simple document called a living will can provide medical personnel with important instructions and direction regarding what care should be provided if you are not able to communicate this information yourself.
Attorneys with the Tennessee law firm of Douglass & Runger, PLLC, Attorneys at Law, are capable of assisting you in creating a living will. Doing so can give you and your family peace of mind knowing that these emotional and difficult decisions have been made ahead of time.
What Can I Accomplish Through A Living Will?
In a nutshell, a living will is an opportunity for you to speak to medical professionals like doctors and nurses when you are not able to speak for yourself. Through this document, healthcare workers are informed of your preferences, desires, and wishes regarding the type and extent of medical care you would like to receive. A living will is often combined with a durable power of attorney to give a particular individual the legal authority to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.
Through a living will, you can inform healthcare workers about your wishes and desires concerning the following:
- Whether you want life-sustaining medical care and treatment designed to prolong your life beyond its natural end. Note: this would include receiving treatments such as blood transfusions, artificial respirators, dialysis treatments, and surgeries.
- Whether you want life-sustaining food and water administered to you artificially. Note: if you are comatose, you are (obviously) unable to consume food and water on your own. If you are not administered these items, you will soon die naturally of starvation and/or dehydration. Your living will can tell doctors and healthcare workers if you want these substances administered to you artificially.
- Whether you want to be resuscitated if you die. Note: some individuals want to be resuscitated and their lives prolonged at any cost possible; others do not want to be resuscitated if they will be comatose, if they will need artificial respiration and/or feeding, or if they have a terminal illness or condition that cannot be cured.
- Whether you want pain management services and treatment during your final moments. Note: medications and drugs are available to numb a person to pain associated with dying, including pain from starvation and/or dehydration. You can direct that medical professionals administer you any and all legal drugs so that you are in as little pain as possible, you can specify certain drugs you would like to receive or not to receive, or you can elect that no pain management therapies or treatments be administered to you.
Why Does An Attorney Need To Help Me With A Living Will?
Living wills can be a source of contention in some families if, for example, a living will states that the individual does not want to be resuscitated but a family member strongly believes the person did in fact want to be resuscitated. There are steps that an attorney can help you take, including communicating with your family and doctors, to ensure that your wishes will be followed.
Contact A Skilled Tennessee Living Will Attorney For Help
The Memphis living will attorneys at Douglass & Runger, PLLC, Attorneys at Law, are experienced and knowledgeable in helping clients draft living wills that encompass their desires and wishes concerning end-of-life care. Contact them at (901) 388-5805 to learn how a professionally-drafted living will can help ensure your wishes are respected and honored even when you are unable to express them verbally.