Bellevue Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive & Living Wills Lawyer
Advance Directive, Healthcare Directive & Living Wills Lawyer Serving Bellevue
Bellevue, Washington, is well known as a great place to live, with many attractions such as the Mercer Slough Nature Park, the great shopping at Bellevue Square, and the fine dining to be enjoyed at restaurants all over the city. Bellevue is home to many major tech companies, making this city a prosperous and comfortable home for more than 150,000 people.
You’ve spent your life here building a career and enjoying time with your family. Now it’s time to think ahead and remove some of the stress your family would otherwise experience near the end of your life. By creating an Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive or Living Will (they all mean the same thing), you can let your health care agent and family know what medical decisions you want if you are no longer able to decisions for yourself.
An experienced estate planning and elder law attorney can help you decide what you want to do and express that clearly in an Advance Directive to make your wishes clear. ELG Estate Planning is a Bellevue, Washington, estate planning and elder law firm with extensive experience creating Advance Directives for our valued clients. If you need help with an Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive or Living Will or any other aspect of estate planning, contact ELG Estate Planning today!
Take a behind-the-scenes look at our ELG Estate Planning Seattle office and meet the incredible team behind the work. From your first consultation to finalizing your plan, we’re here to provide thoughtful guidance every step of the way.
Living Wills and Advance Healthcare Directives in Bellevue, WA
Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive or Living Will is a legal document that lets medical professionals know what you do or don’t want them to do to keep you alive if you cannot communicate with them in person. A Living Will only comes into effect if your attending physician or two doctors put into writing that your medical condition is terminal or you are in unconsciousness is permanent
If you are conscious and able to communicate, your Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive or Living Will does not come into effect.
How to Create an Advance Directive / Healthcare Directive or Living Will
There are several requirements for creating an Advance Directive.
You must be at least 18 years old.
You must be of sound mind and able to understand what you are doing when you authorize an Advance Directive.
Two competent adults must witness the signature of the person who creates the
Advance Directive and the witnesses cannot be related to the person, have the right under the person’s will or the law to inherit from them or be a health provider, or
Be notarized.
What Can You Do with a Living Will?
According to the Washington State Department of Health, you can use a Living Will to let your doctors know several important pieces of information, including:
Whether you want treatment withheld or withdrawn when recovery is impossible, and medical treatment would only prolong the process
If you want doctors to stop providing food and water artificially
Other details about how you want doctors to handle your end-of-life care
You should also have a Durable Power Of Attorney to give a trusted person the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. The Living Will only states your wishes in writing, not who will speak for you when you are not able. Your authorized agent must respect the terms of your Living Will and ensure your wishes are heard and followed.
Your wishes per your Advance Directive / Living Will include letting your doctors know what treatment to provide you or not, such as:
Feeding tubes
IV hydration
Ventilators
CPR
Blood dialysis
Blood transfusion
Making Changes to Your Advance Directive / Living Will
You can make changes to an Advance Directive if you change your mind about what you want done if you are near death. If you do decide to make changes, make sure your updated documents are delivered to:
Your primary doctor
Your health care agent
Your spouse (if they are not your health care agent)
This prevents confusion and conflict if you become incapacitated and can no longer communicate your wishes.
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment
An Advance Directive is intended to be effective when a person has been diagnosed with a terminal illness or permanent vegetative condition. It is a legal document, usually prepared by an estate planning and elder law attorney. There is another form that supplements the Living Will. For those who want to ensure they do not receive resuscitation attempts, a medical form known as Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (“POLST”) may be obtained from a doctor’s office and is signed by you and the doctor after consultation. The POLST form should be prominently displaced, such as on the front of the refrigerator, so it is visible to emergency responders. Without a POLST, emergency responders and healthcare providers will attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if the principal’s heart has stopped. CPR will only be withheld with a POLST stating DNAR (Do not attempt resuscitation).
Can a Doctor Refuse to Honor an Advance Directive/Living Will?
Generally, doctors will strive to honor your wishes. However, a doctor may refuse to honor the terms of an Advance Directive/Living Will under two circumstances:
If your Advance Directive conflicts with your doctor’s religious or ethical beliefs
If your Advance Directive conflicts with hospital policy
Good advice is to select a doctor or hospital ahead of time, if possible, who will honor the terms of your Advance Directive.
Mental Health Directives
You can also create another document called a Mental Health Directive to tell doctors how you want them to make medical decisions for you if you experience a mental health crisis.
A Mental Health Directive can tell medical professionals:
Your preferred healthcare providers
Your preferred medications
Whether you consent to inpatient treatment
What mental health treatments you have found most helpful
Contact a Bellevue, WA, Estate Planning Law Firm
The best reason to create an Advance Directive/Living Will is to remove the burden of uncertainty from the people you love. If they don’t know what you want, they may struggle to agree on a course of action.
Not having your wishes in writing, in advance of a health care crisis can lead to stress, unnecessary conflict, and hard feelings at a time when everyone in the family is already struggling. By creating an Advance Directive, you can spare your family unnecessary stress and uncertainty while making sure that your care is handled the way you would want it to be handled.
ELG Estate Planning can help you create an Advance Directive/Living Will to speak to your end-of-life planning. Give yourself and your family the gift of peace of mind. Contact ELG Estate Planning now. We’re here to help if you’d like to discuss your Living Will or estate plan.
Our firm has three locations throughout Washington to serve your estate planning needs, but our office closest to Bellevue is in Seattle at 9725 3rd Ave. NE, Suite 600.
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