Drafting A Proper Living Will

A living will (known as a health care directive in New Jersey) will provide you and your family members with the peace of mind of knowing your medical care wishes at the end of life will be honored. It also provides direction to medical professionals, who are ethically and legally bound to keep you alive unless you have a legal document in place that instructs them otherwise.

Without a living will or health care directive in place, strangers or a court may decide if you live or die. Terri Schiavo was a Florida woman who spent 15 years in a persistent vegetative state before being allowed to die by court order in 2005. With a comprehensive living will in place, her family would never have needed a court to make that decision.

What Is A “Proper” Living Will?

As an example, living wills before Terri Schiavo’s case asked when and if you wanted a feeding tube. After that case, elder law attorneys acknowledged that there is no simple “yes or no” answer to that question. Macri & Associates, LLC adopted language to make that decision if and when it occurs rather than try to play doctor. Since reformatting our living wills, they have been honored where presented in New Jersey and all other states.

A “fill in the blank” form is seldom adequate. One size does not fit all. Our form presents options for you to choose from, allowing you to tailor your living will to match your life care wishes.

Vince Macri is one of only 450 attorneys nationwide who are certified in elder law (CELA) by the National Elder Law Foundation.

Free Lawyer Consultation

For a free initial consultation with one of our CELA partners at our East Hanover firm about living wills/health care directives, call 973-577-6010 or fill out the fee-free contact form on this website.