A living will is a legal document designed to help people express their wishes in case they become incapacitated. According to University of Michigan Medical center, a living will can help you leave instructions to the family so that family members do not have to struggle to make the difficult decisions on their own. However, there are some pros and cons to a living will that everyone should be aware of.
Complication
A living will is designed to assist individuals when they are unable to make decisions for themselves. One plus of a living will is that it helps the person and his family to make decisions in the event of the person's incapacitation. Writing up a living will usually helps the person and family communicate their wishes, which prevents conflict between family members and medical staff if the person is incapacitated. If a person does not have a living will and he become incapacitated, some medical facilities will provide a patient advocate to help the family determine the best outcome. However, one negative aspect occurs when outsiders become involved, because this process can place additional stress on the family members and can lengthen the process and the pain they are experiencing.
Interpretation
According to the Senior.com website, a living will has language that is very vague because it is meant to cover a wide array of issues. Normally, a legal document encompassing a variety of issues is a positive that can benefit the incapacitated person and his family. However, a negative aspect is that this vague language leads family members to interpret meaning differently than other medical staff or other family members. This can cause unnecessary pain and anger between family members and medical staff, who should be trying to work together to do what is best for the incapacitated loved one.
Honoring Wishes
One positive aspect of a living will is that it provides comfort to family members with the belief that they are honoring their family members wishes. Although a living will is designed to honor and uphold the incapacitated person's wishes though, this is not always done. One negative situation can develop when physicians and hospitals are at odds with family members. However, the hospital and medical staff are not going to fight family members that are against whatever the living will is requesting. Because of the legality of the situation, this can be both time consuming and expensive for all parties. Neither side wants a costly and painful court case that will only extend and increase the pain of the family. Therefore, if the family is still not willing to abide by the living will, the medical staff will often back off and follow the wishes of some family members.
