Healthcare Directive (Living Will)

If you had a terminal condition, would you want your dying artificially prolonged?

The Health Care Directive (commonly known as a "living will") is the legal document that allows you to answer this question in writing.

This directive is used only if:

• You have a terminal condition as certified by your physician, where life-sustaining treatment would only artificially prolong the process of dying
• You are certified by two physicians to be in an irreversible coma or other permanent unconscious condition and there is no reasonable hope of recovery

In either situation, the directive allows treatment and artifically-provided nutrition to be withheld or withdrawn so that you may die naturally.

The Health Care Directive must be signed by you and two witnesses who are not related to you and will not inherit anything from you. You can change or revoke this directive at any time.

What To Do With This Form

The Health Care Directive form is a legal document once it has been completely filled out and signed with the appropriate signatures.

Signed copies of the completed directives should be included in your medical record, given to any person to whom you give your durable power of attorney -i ncluding any alternate people you may have named - and to your personal attorney.

Originals should be kept by someone you trust and who can obtain them in an emergency.