I am not sounding off about the Terri Schiavo case one way or another here, but I am asking all members to seriously consider filing a "Living Will" and a power of attorney with someone you can trust to enforce it.

Local hospitals will be able to tell you what paperwork you need to file (it varies by state) and they will have the paperwork there. They will tell you what steps you have to take to make sure that all other hospitals they may deal with, do what you want in case you should become incapacitated.

Nobody wants to think about this, but it's very important, and I now see exactly why. As soon as Larry is done with this semester, we plan to go do this.

Don't let other people make your decisions for you in the end, as we have all witnessed just how ugly it can become.

Chances are very good that you will never need the Living Will, but you should still have it.

Excellent post!!!!
I have had my "living will" done up for a few years now after seeing the heartache of families with clients i have worked with. :thumb:

I've been thinking about looking into this for awhile now. Good post Brandy....

This is something that many people should consider doing...

Already done, did this after my daughter was born and re-did them after my son was born. Have plenty of life insurance too. Great post! :thumb:

I had thought about it. In fact, our life insurance agent told me that you can probably go to just about any legal site that has a Will template and fill it out and as long as it is notorized would be legal. Again, She could be wrong on this...it varies from state to state.

http://www.officemax.com/max/solutions/product/prodBlock.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=yes&expansionOID=-536879730&prodBlockOID=537366666

Find your state, fill in the blanks, get it notarized, and give copies to ALL of your relatives. All for less than 30 bucks.

BTW, in my job, I have read some living wills, if you go to an attourney to have one made up, make sure it spells out EXACTLY what you want, and that there is NO vague language. I recently saw one that stated "If the state passes legislation that is contrary to my wishes, I authorize my legal gardian to have me transported to a state that will abide my wishes". MAKE SURE SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT IS IN YOUR LIVING WILL!!!!!!

Or go here: http://www.legalscribe.com/formslibrary.html

They will e-mail you whatever forms you want....all they ask is that you send them a one-time payment of $5.00 to cover their costs, and you can get as many forms e-mailed to you as you want, they don't limit it.

Then, you print, fill in the blanks, and have it notarized.

I have my living will printed, I just haven't filled it all out yet. Still, after this story, I told my husband what to do, just so he knows.

Or go here:

I have my living will printed, I just haven't filled it all out yet. Still, after this story, I told my husband what to do, just so he knows.

Well, obviously that isnt enough for some people! GET IT IN WRITING! I would hate to see you on CNN with people arguing over what Val "would have/said she" wanted.

I recently saw one that stated "If the state passes legislation that is contrary to my wishes, I authorize my legal gardian to have me transported to a state that will abide my wishes". MAKE SURE SOMETHING TO THAT EFFECT IS IN YOUR LIVING WILL!!!!!!:eek: WOW... I never thought about THAT happening!! You are absolutely correct. I have a Living Will... and I've been quite vocal to my family about my wishes. I've even said "THIS IS NOT CASUAL CONVERSATION... I'm dead SERIOUS." (no pun intended)

Anyway, thanks Jasper, I'm going to have that added in there for SURE! Brandy, great post. :thumb: My greatest hope is that SOME good comes out of this disaster... that people realize how important having a Living Will is.

Please... all of you... RUN, don't walk to get a Living Will. Don't say "I'll do it later"... do it NOW. We aren't guaranteed a "later", ya know?