Living Will Questions

1. Do you want your Advance Directive to be limited to a time of ‘terminal illness’ or should it apply to all situations in which you are not capable of making medical decisions or are unable to express your wishes?

2. Who should make medical decisions for you if you become incapable of making your own decisions or unable to express your wishes?

3. When and how should those you designate be empowered to make medical decisions?

4. What level of quality of life existence do you wish to preserve through medical treatment and care? When, according to your own standards, would you want medical care to end?

5. Where would you draw the line between a quality of life worth preserving and a minimum life that should be mercifully shut down?

6. How do you want to be treated if you get Alzheimer’s disease or some other condition that limits your mental abilities?

7. If you are in serious pain, what do you want done?

8. Do you want to be put into a nursing home?
If so, for how long, under what conditions, and for what purposes?

9. Where do you wish to die?

10. Do you want to put a financial limit on your terminal care?

11. How much do you want to know about your medical condition and prognosis?

12. When should all life-sustaining treatments be ended?

13. When should Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) orders be written for you?

14. How long should you be maintained on life-support systems?

15. Should food and water ever be withdrawn or withheld in order to shorten the process of your dying?

16. Which definition of death should apply to you? (brain dead?)