Adults in Washington no longer draft living wills. Instead, they now establish advance health care directives. These documents have effectively replaced living wills and allow people to provide clear instructions about their personal medical preferences.
People with different religious beliefs and different medical challenges have unique expectations regarding the care that they receive. Some people want to be as comfortable as possible. Others worry about addiction and want to limit what pain relief they receive.
Many people specifically choose to establish advance health care directives for their own benefit, as they do not want to receive care that could have devastating implications for them in the future or that might violate their religious beliefs. For others, concerns about their family members might inspire them to draft an advance directive.
What benefits do those who love an individual derive from their advance health care directive?
Peace of mind
People making medical decisions for a parent or a spouse want to follow their wishes. Even when there have been prior discussions about personal medical preferences, it is easy for people to struggle to recall the details about a loved one’s medical preferences in an emergency situation where they feel stressed.
People may then spend years second-guessing whether they made the right choice and possibly struggling with guilt. The clear instructions in a standard advance health care directive form take the pressure off of loved ones and help them feel confident that they made the right choices.
Reduced risk of conflict
When there is no written guide for family members to follow, everyone may have different ideas about the right medical choices to make for a loved one. In some cases, disputes between siblings could destroy long-held relationships.
The children of an adult experiencing a medical emergency might question the motives of a stepparent who declines emergency interventions or otherwise contradicts the children’s wishes. When people have documents in place to guide medical decisions, families can defer to that paperwork and avoid disagreements that could cause long-term damage to family dynamics.
Taking the time to establish an advance health care directive or to replace a living will within newer documents can be beneficial not just for a person drafting that document, but also for the people they love. People may want to review, update or expand their estate plans with a skilled legal team to more effectively work to include advance health care directives before they experience any major medical challenges.
