As people age they should realize the importance of drafting a living will. A living will is intended to provide guidelines to certain individuals including health care proxies. It is important for people drafting a living will to clearly express their intentions in writing. When a person loses mental capacity they lose the ability to have control over the decisions they make for themselves. If people want to have influence over what type of medical treatment they will receive after losing capacity they need to take steps to plan ahead by drafting a living will. It is also important to draft other essential legal documents like a durable power of attorney for both financial and health care related issues. Taking steps to plan for these difficult issues ahead of time can prevent future problems.
See Robin Marantz Henig, Putting It in Writing, Psychology Today, April 7, 2016.
