Living wills are not really wills at all. Instead, a living will (which also may be known as a healthcare directive or directive to physicians) is a document that expresses a person's desires and preferences about medical treatment in case he or she becomes unable to communicate these instructions during terminal illness or permanent unconsciousness. The first living wills helped people who wanted a natural death unattended by artificial life support and other advanced medical techniques. As these documents became more popular and widely available under local laws, they came to include other health care concerns such as tube feeding, resuscitation, and organ donation. While living wills are allowed in all states, they sometimes must follow certain formalities to be effective. If valid, a living will binds health care providers to its instructions. Many people believe that living wills only direct health care providers to withhold treatment. While many choose to issue that type of instruction, a living will also allows a person to ask for all available treatment options and medical techniques, or to choose some medical options and reject others. A living will cannot take effect legally unless the patient is medically determined to be in a permanent vegetative state or terminally ill, and therefore unable to communicate medical preferences.
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