CC YY CC Get Started OONNTTRROOLL OOUURR RRIITTIICCAALL CD-ROM included Your Blueprint Now with HH CC DD EEAALLTTHH AARREE EECCIISSIIOONNSS Every Form Success for You Need on CC Get Started Now with Every CD-ROM The Complete Living Will Kit is an Form You Need on CD-ROM OO easy-to-use guide to preparing your TT The own living will without the expense of an attorney. A living will, along with MMHH EE Complete a health care power of attorney, provides your family and doctors with PP instructions for your health care and ensures that your wishes are followed— LL even if you are unable to speak for yourself. Inside, learn how easy it is to prepare all the EE LLiivviinngg documents you may ever need. Simple instructions and samples walk you through filling out TT your own forms and giving your family the power to carry out your health care wishes. EE LL Write the Best Living Will for You Prepare Your Specific Needs With step-by-step instructions and sample filled-in State-by-state listings covering every state’s laws forms, you can easily personalize the documents and specifically sanctioned forms make this book II to express exactly what you want to happen if you your one-stop guide for preparing the precise VV WWiillll ever become incapacitated. documentation you need. II Ensure Complete Coverage Share Your Decisions NN Learn about other valuable health care documents, Learn the importance of notifying your family Kit including health care powers of attorney and do and friends of your decisions and providing GG not resuscitate orders, that guide your family and your health care agents with all the necessary doctors in the case of an emergency. information—before it is too late. Direct Your Doctors Modify Forms for Your Needs WW Ensure that your doctors follow your specific Find all the essential forms on the accompanying wishes and make the health decisions you want— CD-ROM and modify each form to say exactly no matter the situation. what you want. II LL ‰ ‰ LL Advance Directive Step-by-Step Making your health care wishes known and Other Related Instructions and has never been easier. Documents Sample Documents KK ‰ ‰ II Emergency Decisions State-Specific Forms TT SPHINX® PUBLISHING Personal $21.95 U.S. ANIMPRINTOFSOURCEBOOKS,INC.® Finance $30.95 CAN NAPERVILLE,ILLINOIS www.SphinxLegal.com ISBN-13: 978-1-57248-542-6 ISBN-10: 1-57248-542-6 HAMAN C N P A U E E D W A R D A . H A M A N , A T T O R N E Y A T L A W The Complete Living Will Kit (+ CD-ROM) The Complete Living Will Kit (+ CD-ROM) Edward A. Haman Attorney at Law S P PHINX® UBLISHING ANIMPRINTOFSOURCEBOOKS,INC.® NAPERVILLE,ILLINOIS www.SphinxLegal.com Disclaimer: This eBook does not include the ancillary media that was packaged with the original printed version of the book. Copyright © 2006 by Edward A.Haman Cover and internal design © 2006 by Sourcebooks,Inc.® All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from its publisher,Sourcebooks,Inc.® Purchasers of the book are granted a license to use the forms contained herein for their own personal use.No claim of copy- right is made in any government form reproduced herein.Portions of this book were previously published in How to Write Your Own Living Will. First Edition:2006 Published by:Sphinx®Publishing,An Imprint of Sourcebooks,Inc.® Naperville Office P.O.Box 4410 Naperville,Illinois 60567-4410 630-961-3900 Fax:630-961-2168 www.sourcebooks.com www.SphinxLegal.com This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered.It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal,accounting,or other professional service.If legal advice or other expert assistance is required,the services of a competent pro- fessional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations This product is not a substitute for legal advice. Disclaimer required by Texas statutes. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Haman,Edward A. The complete living will kit / by Edward A.Haman.-- 1st ed. p.cm. Includes index. ISBN-13:E978-1-57248-542-6-542-6 (pbk.:alk.paper) ISBN-10:E1-57248-542-6-542-6 (pbk.:alk.paper) 1. Right to die--Law and legislation--United States--Popular works. I. Title. KF3827.E87H355 2006 344.7304'197--dc22 2006018566 Printed and bound in the United States of America. SB — 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents How to Use the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii Using Self-Help Law Books. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Chapter 1: Living Wills and Related Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Living Wills Living Will Choices Basic Documents for Your Protection Chapter 2: The Law Concerning Living Wills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The Law in Your State Legal Research Chapter 3: Writing Your Living Will. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Living Wills and Specific Situations Living Will Forms Sample Living Will Witnesses Notarized Signatures vi The Complete Living Will Kit Chapter 4: Using Your Living Will . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Copies ofYour Living Will Living Wills and Emergency Medical Care Chapter 5: Other Health Care Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Health Care Power of Attorney Directives for Specific Medical Procedures Do Not Resuscitate Orders Revoking a Living Will Statement of Desires Chapter 6: Lawyers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Selecting a Lawyer Working with a Lawyer Firing Your Lawyer Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Appendix A: State Laws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Appendix B: Forms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 How to Use the CD-ROM Thank you for purchasing The Complete Living Will Kit. In this book, we have worked hard to compile exactly what you need to write your own living will. To make this material even more useful,we have included every document in the book on the CD-ROM in the back of the book. You can use these forms just as you would the forms in the book.Print them out,fill them in, and use them however you need.You can also fill in the forms directly on your computer.Just identify the form you need,open it,click on the space where the information should go,and input your information. Customize each form for your particular needs. Use them over and over again. The CD-ROM is compatible with both PC and Mac operating systems. (While it should work with either operating system,we cannot guarantee that it will work with your particular system and we cannot provide technical assistance.) To use the forms on your computer,you will need to use Microsoft Word or another word processing program that can read Word files.The CD- ROM does not contain any such program. Insert the CD-ROM into your computer. Double-click on the icon representing the disc on your desktop or go through your hard drive to identify the drive that contains the disc and click on it. Once opened,you will see the files contained on the CD-ROM listed as “Form #:[Form Title].” Open the file you need.You may print the form to fill it out manually at this point,or you can click on the appropriate line to fill it in using your computer. viii The Complete Living Will Kit Any time you see bracketed information [ ] on the form,you can click on it and delete the brack- eted information from your final form.This information is only a reference guide to assist you in filling in the forms and should be removed from your final version.Once all your information is filled in,you can print your filled-in form. * * * * * Purchasers of this book are granted a license to use the forms contained in it for their own personal use. By purchasing this book, you have also purchased a limited license to use all forms on the accompanying CD-ROM. The license limits you to personal use only and all other copyright laws must be adhered to. No claim of copyright is made in any government form reproduced in the book or on the CD-ROM.You are free to modify the forms and tailor them to your specific situation. The author and publisher have attempted to provide the most current and up-to-date informa- tion available. However, the courts, Congress, and your state’s legislatures review, modify, and change laws on an ongoing basis,as well as create new laws from time to time.Due to the very nature ofthe information and the continual changes in our legal system,to be sure that you have the current and best information for your situation, you should consult a local attorney or researchthe current laws yourself. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subjectmattercovered.It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in ren- dering legal,accounting,or other professional service.If legal advice or other expert assistance is required,the services of a competent professional person should be sought. —From a Declaration of Principles Jointly Adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations This product is not a substitute for legal advice. —Disclaimer required by Texas statutes x The Complete Living Will Kit When buying a car,you decide whether you want transportation,comfort,status,or sex appeal. Accordingly, you decide among such choices as a Neon, a Lincoln, a Rolls Royce, or a Porsche. Before making a decision,you usually weigh the merits of each option against the cost. When you get a headache,you can take a pain reliever (such as aspirin) or visit a medical specialist for a neurological examination. Given this choice, most people, of course, take a pain reliever, since it costs only pennies; whereas a medical examination costs hundreds of dollars and takes a lot of time. This is usually a logical choice because it is rare to need anything more than a pain reliever for a headache.But in some cases,a headache may indicate a brain tumor and failing to see a specialist right away can result in complications. Should everyone with a headache go to a specialist? Of course not,but people treating their own illnesses must realize that they are betting on the basis of their cost/value analysis of the situation.They are taking the most logical option. The same cost/value analysis must be made when deciding to do one’s own legal work.Many legal situations are very straight forward,requiring a simple form and no complicated analysis.Anyone with a little intelligence and a book ofinstructions can handle the matter without outside help. But there is always the chance that complications are involved that only an attorney would notice. Tosimplify the lawinto a book like this,several legal cases often must be condensed into a single sen- tenceor paragraph.Otherwise,the book would be several hundred pages long and too complicated for most people.However,this simplification necessarily leaves out many details and nuances that would applytospecial or unusual situations.Also,there are many ways to interpret most legal ques- tions.Your case maycome before a judge who disagrees with the analysis ofour authors. Therefore,in deciding to use a self-help law book and to do your own legal work,you must realize that you are making a cost/value analysis.You have decided that the money you will save in doing it yourself outweighs the chance that your case will not turn out to your satisfaction.Most people handling their own simple legal matters never have a problem,but occasionally people find that it ended up costing them more to have an attorney straighten out the situation than it would have if they had hired an attorney in the beginning.Keep this in mind while handling your case,and be sure to consult an attorney if you feel you might need further guidance. Local Rules The next thing to remember is that a book which covers the law for the entire nation,or even for an entire state, cannot possibly include every procedural difference of every jurisdiction. Whenever possible, we provide the exact form needed; however, in some areas, each county, or even each judge,may require unique forms and procedures.In our state books,our forms usu- ally cover the majority of counties in the state, or provide examples of the type of form which