A living will is a legal document that allows you to state the medical treatments you want or don't want should you become unable to communicate with doctors due to illness or injury. This not only ensures that your wishes are upheld but spares your loved ones from having to make painful decisions during a difficult time. While it’s best to work with an established law firm when drafting a living will, the guide below offers suggestions for what you should include.

What Medical Issues Should You Address in a Living Will?

1. Feeding Through a Tube

When a patient’s condition makes it impossible for them to swallow food or liquids, doctors can provide them with nourishment by placing a feeding tube into their stomach or veins.

While this intervention can be beneficial in many circumstances when used temporarily, some individuals do not like the idea or worry about it being used permanently. In your living will, you can reject this type of care altogether or put a limit on how long you’d like to receive it.

2. Receiving or Donating Tissue & Organs

Sometimes, tissue or organ donation is necessary to save a life. You should specify in your living will whether you would be agreeable to receiving a transplant from a living or deceased donor. You can also explain if you are willing to donate blood, organs, or tissue yourself.

3. The Use of Life Support Systems

Mechanical life support systems are used to keep patients alive when parts of their bodies become too sick to perform essential functions. Ventilators are often used to help people with damaged lungs breathe, for example, while dialysis machines can be used to clean patients’ blood if their kidneys fail.

Different people have varying opinions about being put or kept on life support if these measures are what is keeping them alive. The law firm you work with can help you indicate under what circumstances you’d allow this treatment and for how long.

If you need help drafting a living will, get in touch with Kleveland Law Offices. For more than 35 years, this law firm has been providing the Lincoln, NE, area with first-rate legal services in a variety of practice areas, including family and probate law. Visit their website for more information on their capabilities. Call (402) 477-7776 to schedule a consultation today.