A person can make last wishes and desires known to his/her immediate family through a living will. Intentions about medical treatments and how they want be taken care of can be mentioned in the will. It is also used as a physician’s directive. The main purpose of a living will is to inform family members and health care providers the desire about a person's medical treatment. When a person is incapacitated and cannot speak for themselves, the living will is executed.

A living will is prepared under the guidance of a lawyer. The requirements for a will depend on the respective state’s policies. Lawyers, who usually plan the estate, also prepare a living will. It is cheaper to have the living will planned at the time of estate planning.

In a living will, you should indicate what kind of treatments you want to avoid, in case you are in a vegetative state or if you are suffering from a life threatening condition. You can also declare who should take care of you and where you want to be treated. A living will comes into effect only when you are incapacitated. Even if you are bed ridden and you can talk, the living will is not used. For example, if you have had a heart attack but you are on the process of recovery, the living will is not used at that time. Only when you are permanently in a vegetative state the will comes into effect.

There can be some situations in life where you cannot talk but your health is not so bad that you are going to die. In such cases, it is difficult to communicate your wishes. The living will has a health care attorney or a proxy named in it that takes care of your wishes at such a time.

Once you decide to make the will, you have to let people know that such a will exists. If nobody knows about it, then it is of no use because it will not be used at the right time. The person you have named on the will should know about it most importantly. You should also have their agreement for it because they are actually taking up a great burden. Also, while preparing the will, you should discuss with your doctor on what kind of treatments you would like to avoid and what repercussions that might have. They could charge a consultation fee, but it is worth it.

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