Drafting a living will

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lil_M
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lil_M

Guest
Nothing like having a kid to get a move on this cheery sort of thing. DH and I are planning on making wills soon and I’m wondering what the Catholic position is on persons in a permanent vegetative state. If there’s no brain activity it must be acceptable to turn off life support? Is that not “natural death”? Just wondering what we should put as our preference should this occur to one of us.
 
Thanks for the link, it does help some- I guess that in the situation I describe it would be okay to turn off machines but not to cease hydration/nutrition to starve the person. And it also looks like what we want is called an “Advance Directive with a Durable Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy”. I wonder if most lawyers are even familiar with this :confused: I did not know that was different from a “living will”. I was hoping this would not be too complicated because as it is I’m not thrilled about the legal costs. But if we don’t do it now, it’ll never get done. Sigh 🤷
 
Yeah, it’s not fun, that’s for sure! I think we paid about $700 or so to have ours drawn up. Somewhere on the internet, I’ll see if I can find it, was an example page that you could actually print out and take to your attorney to go by. I just can’t remember where it was. I do think you are correct, that you may turn off life support, but not withhold hydration and food. My attorney was familiar with this sort of stuff, so I guess we were lucky!🙂
 
My sister and BIL are doing theirs now, so if they have a good experience with their lawyer we will use him instead of picking one out of the phone book. Now we just have to decide who will be our executor/guardian etc. Funfun!
 
I’ve been an executor before, and it’s no cakewalk, even for the simplest of estates. I have a cousin, who I’m very close to, that will be the guardians, as well as our executrix for our estate, of our children if something happened to us. She and her family are also Catholic, and that helps a lot too.
 
As far as picking an executor/guardian, I’ve heard it suggested that they be two separate people – one guardian for your child(ren) and another to handle the financial aspects. It’s also suggested that if you leave money for your child(ren) for things like college, et cetera that you also allow a certain yearly allowance for the person raising your children to provide the things that you would like. I’m talking things like parochial school, et cetera, not normal everyday living expenses.

Just my two cents.
 
My parents have designated 3 staunchly pro-life, catholic physicians that they know and trust, to be contacted in case of any question of their “viability”. It is outlined that the doctors will review all the information and advise my siblings and I about our options. Then we will make necessary decisions. I believe one of my siblings may be designated as primary, but on that point I’m not sure.
 
Lil_M said:
And it also looks like what we want is called an “Advance Directive with a Durable Power of Attorney or Health Care Proxy”. I wonder if most lawyers are even familiar with this
Click to expand...
You need two things:
  1. well-prepared docs by an atty who knows this area of the law. If you use a generalist, he/she may not know the difference between a living will and the durable power of atty. Each state has its own laws on these matters and if you get the wrong doc, you may not be able to ensure that your directions are honored.
  2. If at all possible, use an atty who is familiar with the Church’s guidance in these matters – obviously what the state allows will differ from what the Church teaches.
 
SarahR said:
My parents have designated 3 staunchly pro-life, catholic physicians that they know and trust, to be contacted in case of any question of their “viability”.
Click to expand...
That is terrific. If we had more docs like this, just think what our country would be like.

In my health care directive, I added a provision that my doctor(s) and guardian are to look to the Church’s current guidance on end-of-life issues in making any decisions. I don’t know how “enforceable” it is, but I figured it would help to ensure my wishes were followed.
 
DH and I are also think of getting a will, durable power of attorney and healthcare power of attorney drawn up for each of us. I decided against the living will, because in my state, it seems to give the doctors the right to pull the plug, including nutrition and hydration, without consulting family members, and without regard to the fact that I might be pregnant with a chance for the baby to survive. Even though the living will is packaged with the healthcare power of attorney, they are seperate legal documents.

I don’t know about your state, but Ohio has a standard template for the living will and healthcare power of attorney so you can do them on your own, just fill in your personal information and the information for your contacts then have it witnessed or notarized.

I would definately recommend having an attorney draft your will and durable power of attorney though. Too many factors to consider with little ones involved, and the DIY ones on the internet may be “airtight” and completely legal, but a good attorney can include clauses that help make things easier for those you leave behind.
 
After the Terri Schindler incident (I cannot bring myself to call her by the last name of that horrid man who starved her to death), I wrote up a living will and have turned all my end of life care to my parents. As a disabled person, that incident scared me to no end. I’m fortunate in that, as a corollary to the living will, if someone were to go turn-coat on me and try to terminate my life before God and the Angel of Death decide otherwise, my protective Irish dad will probably give those threats something else to think about…

And if anything happens to them first, I’m considering transferring the end-of-life decisions to a young priest-friend of ours, but I know I’ll have to talk to him first.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top