Living Wills: Ensure Your End-of-Life Wishes Are Met

What is a Living Will?

In Michigan, a living will is a specific type of advanced directive that deals with your wishes for life-prolonging or life-sustaining treatment ("end of life care").

If you do not have a living will, providers may keep you alive by all means necessary, even if there is no chance of recovery.

Timing

Immediately following a death is a hard time for the family to think about these types of events for the first time. The logistics to consider and the pressure to decide quickly can be overwhelming. For example, your spouse passes away and suddenly your child is needed to make your medical decisions for you. A living will provides loving clarity.

Avoid Family Stress and Disagreements

• Have a conversation about quality of life
• Clarify end-of-life wishes

This will help to ensure your family knows what to do and your wishes are met to make you most comfortable. Talk with your attorney to ensure your living will aligns with your wishes.

Questions to Reflect On

• What and how do you define a meaningful quality of life?
• What is unacceptable to you?
• If you were very sick or injured, how much better would you need to get to meet or maintain your quality of life?

Specific Examples of Wishes to Consider

• I want to verbally communicate as long as I can.
• I do not want to be in pain or suffer unnecessarily.
• I want to know who is in a room with me and be able to engage with him or her.
• I want to be able to eat food and drink water independently.