4 Reasons NOT To Have A Living Will

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Living Will law allows patients to make their own decision, ahead of time, regarding life sustaining procedures.

However, many people go to their estate attorney's office with an understanding that they are "supposed" to sign a living will. Yet, those individuals, perhaps, don't fully understand what binding decisions they are making by executing their living will declaration.

The following are four reasons that informed people have stated to me why they would prefer not to have a living will in place:

(1) They want their family involved in the final decision at that time;
(2) They do not want two physicians having the final say;
(3) They want a time limit; and
(4) They don't want to make a decision today regarding nutrition and hydration.

Bottom line: Make an informed decision.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not provide legal advice. Please do not act or refrain from acting based on anything you read on this site. Using this site or communicating with Rabalais Estate Planning, LLC, through this site does not form an attorney/client relationship.

Paul Rabalais
Estate Planning Attorney

[zippydoo]

About 20 years ago my sister had no living will. She had a heat stroke and ended up in a coma after being found unconscious in her home. While my sister was in the hospital doctors told me she had no chance and should be taken off of life support. My brother and I were next of kin so we were told we could make the decision to have her taken off life support. I hesitated and said to at least give her a week or two. the doctor insisted she would be in what he called ventilator land and it would be very sad. About a week later my sister regained consciousness and the only thing she suffered was a drop foot. My sister told me she was meaning to have a living will drawn up and never got around to it. If my sister did have that living will she told me the way she wanted it written she'd have been taken off of life support. I'm not against the idea of a living will and they might be important but I just wanted to share that story.

[sarathw]

About ten years back my sister came out of a coma after three months. My family was kind enough to keep her going until she recovered. She is still living. -) Thank you for the video and your kindness to explain it in layman terms.

[rinpocherags]

My father had a Living Will. It was contingent on his quality of life, not necessarily that he would survive. He didn’t want any heroic measures, not even hydration, if there wasn’t a chance of good quality of life. I’m grateful he did this, because I may have not been able to.

[raejeanjordan]

My Mother had a brain tumor removed. As it grew back little by little (inoperable a second time) she would have spells where she was out of her head. We would take her to ER & after a few days of treatment she would come back fine. We knew it was eventually going to take her but she came back each time in good shape. One of our trips to the ER a doctor covering for her doctor ask me how many times was I going to do this. I looked him square in the face and told him that as long as she comes back walking and talking, I will continue to bring her! He made me so angry. I told him that yesterday she was walking and talking and fixed her own lunch and as long as she comes back with some quality of life that is what I will do. If she had a living will they would have let her die! So, be very careful about putting your life in the hands of doctors. She wasn’t their Mother! And you can bet your bootie they would keep bringing their own Mother back. They see so much suffering and such that they get complacent about dying. I don’t want to lay in a bed with tubes & respirators but I want my children to make damn sure that there is no other way. I’m a Christian and I’m not afraid of dying. I just want to stay with my family as long as my health will let me.

[thereseember]

As an Oncology RN, I’ve seen a plethora of scenarios:

*One pt. w/ a pacemaker (set at 30/min) was artificially being kept alive for 3 weeks. His skin & ears were necrotic & falling off. This deeply traumatized the family. The doctor never told the family that it could have been turned off 3 weeks earlier.
*One dying patient—who had loved ones at her bedside—were extremely traumatized by the Donor Company plucking her eyeballs out while she was still alive.
*Make sure to sign a DNR well beforehand if you have terminal
cancer, especially if you’re elderly. It’s sadistic to have a Code Blue team crack all of your ribs which causes excruciating pain.
*Always make sure that you have a suction machine & suction supplies & never allow a doctor to D/C the NG Tube and/or suction machine if you’re dying.
One patient began gushing dark liquid stool out of both nares (nose) & then her mouth because the doctor had discontinued the nasogastric tube & the suction machine. Her son was in the room when this was happening, & it’s unconscionably criminal for any doctor to do this.
*Never agree to be placed on doses of Morphine that are going to cause you to slip into a coma until & unless you have seen your loved ones to be able to say goodbye to them.
*If you decide to go on a Morphine drip, have the Pain Management Team do this during the DAY shift. One night shift doctor at the hospital discontinued ALL of the patient’s pain meds & placed him on an unconscionably insufficient dose of Morphine & the patient was in excruciating pain. That doctor was covering for the entire hospital & was completely unqualified & ignorant about pain management. He caused the patient atrociously needless suffering.
*Hospice has been known to give a patient Morphine 25 mg (sublingual) which caused their immediate death. If someone is on an IV, they start you out on Morphine 5 mg/hour. Never allow Hospice to just “expediently get rid of your loved one”.
*Never place anyone in charge who obstructs you from saying your goodbyes and exchange forgivenesses with everyone that you need to. Leave this earth with a clean slate & a clear conscience. It’s not only the patient to be concerned with, it’s everyone that needs closure.
*Never judge for another if they can “take it” to be called to a dying person’s bedside. One wife & son weren’t going to call the patient’s daughter because she had MS (Multiple Sclerosis). But I told them to include her. She was the one who ended up the strongest of all of them. If they had excluded her, it would have caused life-long damage. Grieve all together. Don’t let someone else end up as the caboose in the death process. It causes profound harm.
*Never allow the hospital or Skilled Nursing facility to use HIPAA laws to block your loved ones from visiting or guarding over you. HIPAA is notorious for causing elder abuse because they block your loved ones from saving your life—especially in cases of narcotic overdoses. It might not be an RN who is giving you narcotics, but a CNA who is not qualified to do proper medical assessments.
*Most Skilled Nursing Facilities do not have the same high caliber RNs as the specialty RNs in hospitals.
*Never allow a hospital to just transfer you to a Skilled Nursing Facility that your loved ones haven’t personally checked out beforehand.
*Even in cases of blatant Elder Abuse by a hospital or a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) where the District Attorney is involved, the District Attorney is criminal for not bringing justice to your loved one. They criminally protect Skilled Nursing Facility corporations instead.
*Always have an attorney to protect your legal rights & sign this well-beforehand.
*If you are dying, never think of using your death to punish someone. It causes you to have a horrible death. Don’t do it.

[blackletter]

It's such a relief to find a presenter who doesn't start with a long brand introduction video and then take forever to start with the good stuff.

[bettycapps]

Thank you for clarifying “Living Will” and what it means. All you hear today is, “you need a living will” but they never tell you WHY. This details the meanings of it. It helps me to make an informed decision.
I’m saving all of your videos about the wills, power of attorneys, trusts, executor, etc. I need to go through them one at a time without losing track of them or need to refer back to them, and to share with my husband. We are in our 70’s, and our need to get this taken care of, has slapped us in the face. We do not live forever, and we are not going to get out of this alive. This will make it easier for us to get done what we want and need to be handled.

[thebusterdog]

A living will applies to everyone except a husband or wife. My wife had to undergo brain surgery to stabilize 4 intact aneurysms to prevent them from bursting. She signed a "living will" prior to those 3 seperate surgeries. She came through those like a champ. During her recovery in the ICU she 4 days later had her small intestine burst inside her body and I was called at 2 am in the morning as to whether I her husband would allow them the perform life saving surgery to remove a large portion of her small intestine. It would involve placing a breathing/feeding tube and other life support for her to have any chance of survival. I made the call to over ride that living will. Even though she never regained consionousness from the bowel surgery. I feel I made the right decision, giving her one last shot at life. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don't decision, but in my heart and under the circumstances I was given, I feel good about the decision I made.

[judyconte]

Just wanted to add that I would give all of my legal work to this guy if he were in my state because hes clearly a caring person and will provide you with needed quality information. Thank you thank you thank you so much for these videos keep up the good work

[grandmajane]

I'm very pleased that I came across this video today. Last time I went to the hospital they put unreasonable pressure on me to sign a living will. The more they pressured me, the more certain I was that I did not want to sign it. They said we will crush your chest trying to revive you, do you want that? It was awful, but I did not sign it and you have explained it to me enough so that I know I was right to refuse. The hospitals around here pressure people each time they go to the hospital. Something about that doesn't seem right to me. Thank you.

[gwochen]

I have a very bitter experience 17 years ago fell into the " miracleous" recovery experience of my spouse. It was a 2 weeks comatose period of brain hemorrhage, during that time a young physician was so eager to pull the plug he went so far as saying they have the authority to pull the plug if the patient was homeless (poor homeless souls)! On top of the gut wrenching worry, 24 hours vigilance and numerous insurance feedbacks, I had to fight this God figure! Thank God we didn't have that piece of legal document literally signing one's life away and eventually the real God is finally on our side! We live in a culture of worshipping authority while surrendering our own inborn power to listen to our intuition. It was a small victory but a giant wake up call for me! Thanks for your advice to the public.

[wildredish]

Living wills are one of the most important gifts you can give your loved ones. My 34 sister had cancer and had a living will and ended up in a coma we were so grateful to know exactly what what she wanted.

[M-hcxm]

It's more important to make sure you have selected someone who know what you want in no uncertain terms. My parents selected different children to make decisions for them based on which one of us understood their wants the most. It wasnt a drama thing. We all knew who and why for both of them. No dilemmas. The danger is not talking about what you want.

[lesterjeffries]

What is the difference between:
A) Will
B) Living Will
C) Trust
D) Revocable Trust
E) Estate Planner
F) Probate
G) Last will and testament
I trying to find out which one I need, maybe you can make a video on these.

[amayastrata]

My mother in law had a living will because she was put on palliative care. It enabled her to feel reassured that the medical professionals would honour her preferences for palliative care and how things were going to end and who could help her when she was not mentally capable. I was sadly that person and was there when she died and I was able to ensure she wasn’t poked and prodded or when her heart stopped they wouldn’t try to resuscitate her. They just ensured that she wasn’t dehydrated which was a fear for her. She had bowel ischaemia, an enlarged heart and secondary breast cancer which had also spread to the lungs and was 86. She was in constant pain except when she was drugged up with morphine. As soon as the doctor at the hospital said that she was dying it was as if she heard him and she died. I saw the heart monitor slow right down and then stop. I was able to say goodbye to her and be with her throughout. I still miss her very much. Sometimes it’s a good idea.

[jankraft]

Thank you for your comments. I'm a big fan of Living Wills, BUT I very much appreciate the points you make. It's good for a person to be fully informed.

[richardcommins]

I have a "Power of Attorney for Health Care" that puts my designated person (family member or someone else) in charge for all medical decisions when I am not able to make that decision. It also includes a secondary person if the primary person is unavailable. I would never put a doctor in charge for making that decision. I have seen way too many times where a doctor will choose to do many unnecessary tests on the person after they have no chance of survival because the hospital makes money from all those tests through Medicare. Let the dead die in peace.

[TheFoxwiz]

We had a living will for my parents. One of the best decisions we made. I would suggest most families do it.

[imaloserdude]

Be informed! Excellent video asking viewers to reflect on four ideas before jumping on the living will bandwagon and signing away, as if our life is lived checking boxes. Most relevant to me is the warning that a living will takes choice away from family and gives a directive to medical professionals, who themselves are making an evaluative decision. Do I want a stranger ending all hope right now, or would I rather give family some time to listen and think and then pull the plug? Well, for others, it depends on who their family is and whether they're able to think lovingly and rationally in a tough moment.

[maryleemcdaniel]

Every time my spouse and I go to the doctor - the question is asked about do we have a living will. It may be a mandatory Medicare questions... I'm not sure. I prefer my health care proxy to follow pre-discussed options... so I keep saying no ... Appreciated this video because it is exactly how we personally feel.