Our family decided to take the process a step further. We also chose to create a living trust and living wills. Our living wills ensure that our desires are followed concerning health care and life support. Instead of putting the burden on your child or spouse, make your desire known in advance. For example, how long would you want to be held on life support? I am reminded of the Terri Schiavo case in which the colliding desires of the husband and parents led to year of court battles over the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. I don't want that to happen.
Each family's situation is different so make sure you talk to someone who has the legal knowledge. I've heard that the non-biological parent in a family doesn't automatically have the right to be the guardian for the family's children if the biological parent dies. This is another compelling reason to create the proper legal documents in advance.
These days, with our advanced technology, it doesn't have to be difficult to prepare your family with these documents. One easy way is through www.legalzoom.com – an online legal service center, where you answer questions online and attorneys create legal documents for you. Once the documents arrive in the mail, both you and witnesses need to sign the papers before you have them notarized.
Mommy Tales: Planning for end of life issues is a parental responsibility
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Background There is a heated debate about whether health professionals may refuse to provide treatments to which they object on moral grounds. It is important to understand how physicians think about their ethical rights and obligations when such conflicts emerge in clinical practice.
Religion, Conscience, and Controversial Clinical Practices
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"Colliding desires" -- interesting. The legal fiction is, it was Terri's wish to die. If Michael did it out of his own desire, it was murder.