[Gondring]

What if a written legal directive of a spouse appoints parents as the legal guardian -- and not the spouse?

Once again we delve into the murky waters that illustrate why mixing religious "marriage" with the civil "marriage" is not a good thing.

What kind of religious "marriage" would not make the spouse legal guardian? Perhaps not Christian...

What is a civil "marriage," if it does not make the spouse the legal guardian?

[summer]

What if the spouse prefers the parents instead of the spouse because the parents and spouse have differing views about end of life issues? What if the spouse is a person who believes it is best to pull the plug immediately, while the parents believe otherwise? Who would you want to have legal authority over you while you were incapacitated, if your views about end of life issues were in conflict with your spouse?

Yes, your spouse should respect your views, but what if your spouse doesn't really want to be your devoted caregiver for 15, 20 or 25 years while you're incapacitated? But your parents do?

This is something like what happened in the case of Terri S, although we don't know what HER position was in this matter since she left nothing in writing. But, clearly, her parents and her spouse had very different views on what they each believed she would have wanted.