With a Living Will, Your Estate Planning is Complete

Setting up your final affairs has become a more complicated process in recent years. It used to be
that a basic 'last will and testament' would be all that is needed to insure proper distribution
of your assets. Today, you have many wealthier folks being 'sold' on living trusts - which in
many cases are more trouble than they are worth. You also have greater health concerns to
consider when doing your estate planning. 

While it is true that people are living longer today than ever before, and on balance that's a
great thing, there is an unintended consequence; more people are also developing health
conditions that leave them either physically or mentally incapacitated. This has added another
dimension to the estate planning process; the growing popularity of living wills. 

A living will is essentially a directive that is set up for the purpose of determining what
treatments you may or may not want and what surgeries to have if there comes a day when you are
unable to make these choices on your own. In some states, this document is also referred to as a
healthcare power of attorney with medical directive. You can set it up on your own, but this is
one of those legal documents that you may be better off using the services of an estate planning
attorney for. Here's why. 

Think about all the possible medical conditions that can occur that may leave you without the
ability to decide on the kind of care you should have. You may have thought of 5 or 10 off the
top of your head. But there are at least 10 times that many (or more) that could occur. For this
reason, it helps greatly to have a professional who is experienced in this area to sit down and
go through everything with you. 

Your estate planning lawyer will be familiar with all the possible scenarios that you would not
have come up with on your own. He will also be able to explain it all in layman's terms so you
can understand them clearly and decide what is best for you. For example, there may be certain
situations where you prefer not to have a major surgery, and would rather have a pain killer
instead. There may also come a time when you are clinically dead but being kept alive on a
respirator. 

These days, many people do not want to remain in a vegetative state. But - if there is no
written directive, your family members will likely be the ones to decide. And if there is a
dispute among them (think Terry Schiavo circa 2005), then it will likely be fought out in court,
potentially causing a lot of bad blood among family members. With this one document known as a
living will, you can put an end to all the speculation about what you 'would have wanted',
because it will all be there in writing. This makes the living will a truly essential estate
planning document for the modern age.
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Seflin Law firm - Experienced and Caring attorney Upper Darby PA.  Attorney Seflin can assist you
with all aspects of estate planning Upper Darby Pa. Learn more at http://www.seflinlawfirm.com

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