Living Will

“MY LIVING WILL

Last night, my friend and I were sitting in the living room
and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent
on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens,
just pull the plug."
She got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out my wine.
She's such a #&%!$.....”

“LOLs ----”

“Truth has a way of biting us in the butt.....”

“What's so bad about that?”

“too funny!”

“ROFLMAO....

Good one Ruby!”

“My family is always after me to make out a will because of my BP'ing addiction, and the kids/etc...

One of these days I'll get around to it. Till then I kinda like Ruby's vegatative state!”

“MG, don't procrastinate on the living will. As a single parent I found it particularly important to the welfare of my children. In your case, seeing some of the characters you run with, it's doubly important. Either do this or I will kill you:)”

“Maybe if you go on his trip he will. HMMM?”

“You need to check with a lawyer type to find out if living wills are still recommended in your state. Many states have gone to a health care power of attorney or advanced health care directive. It seems there is more flexibility for the family/health care proxy. To some degree it is semantics but as we all know "law" often comes down to semantics.

When we had ours done our lawyer advised against the "Living Will" Here's a scenario...

Living will says "no respirator" so the docs want to put a patient into a medical coma for the purpose of healing a massive trauma which they are doing more and more at times. The Living will would not permit them to do so. The health care proxy or advanced health directive would give the patient's proxy the ability to say "yes" for the purpose of healing the trauma. No for extended care.
last edited: 9/26/07 5:32:55 PM”

“Bad news for you all. While a living will is a good idea it's not a guarantee that your wishes will be honored. Family can override your living will. I see it nearly everyday working in healthcare. A living will is worthless without discussing your wishes with your nearest relatives. They are more likely to honor your wishes if you have that discussion with them.”

“A health care is more likely to be able to make a stink on your behalf and get listened to. That was the reasoning behind my lawyers advice in that direction.

But in any event.. make your wishes known in writing and publicly so there is some kind of documentation concerning what you want. A simple "discussion" is not gonna cut the mustard if somebody wants to make a stink.
last edited: 9/27/07 5:31:06 AM”

“See?”

“Ah, yes, the living will.


One thing's for sure.....the dead won't.


;)”

“what you need, Ruby, is a Living Will Directive and a Healthcare Power of Attorney. Go on-line and search those requirements for your state, you should find a form and be able to do it yourself, or, you can pay big bucks and have it done for you. (i am a paralegal in estate/wealth magement). however, i do agree, it's very important.”

“Everybody in my whole family knows what I want done. When I am finished, and certainly not before, so don't bother hastening it! Please feel free to take what you need to help others live, or live better. Carve me up! Afterall, at that point I'm already off to a better place I call home and Jesus has promised me a brand new body up there. I'm guessing it comes without wrinkles and has great knees! WAHOOOOOOOOOOO! (my kids are used to be talking about death like this)

When my Daddy died, he was not on life support, but we did give his skin and his corneas. My brother-in-law lived several years longer because someone gave him a kidney.

All sides of our family believe that this is the right thing to do, it's the gift of life.

My children know to do it for me when I die, and we have decided that should they die early for some reason that I would do that for them. Now that two of them are seriously dating, I suppose it is something we should all talk about together again so that those they are dating understand what and how we feel.”

“Make sure that all your wills belong to me.”

“you'd be bummed, the only thing of value i'm giving, is my last underage child.”

“i knew you wouldn't want”

“To make sure your living will gets acted upon quickly, put it in your will that the first heir to pull the plug gets 50% of the estate.”

“
Woke up this morning
Put on my slippers
Walked in the kitchen and died
And oh what a feeling!
When my soul
Went thru the ceiling
And on up into heaven I did ride

When I got there they did say
John, it happened this a-way
You slipped upon the floor
And hitcho head
And all the angels say
Just before you passed away
These were the very last words
That you said:

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd druther have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size

Give my stomach to Milwaukee
If they run out of beer
Put my socks in a cedar box
Just get "em" out of here
Venus de Milo can have my arms
Look out! I've got your nose
Sell my heart to the junkman
And give my love to Rose

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd druther have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size

Give my feet to the footloose
Careless, fancy free
Give my knees to the needy
Don't pull that stuff on me
Hand me down my walking cane
It's a sin to tell a lie
Send my mouth way down south
And kiss my ass goodbye

Please don't bury me
Down in that cold cold ground
No, I'd druther have 'em cut me up
And pass me all around
Throw my brain in a hurricane
And the blind can have my eyes
And the deaf can take both of my ears
If they don't mind the size






“Please Don’t Bury Me”
Sweet Revenge (1973)
John Prine

”

“This happens to be inexorably connected to the industry in which I work, and I can tell you that the three best things you can do - particularly if you have a family, blended or otherwise, are these:

First, see an attorney and have a Will prepared. Skip the do-it-yourself approach with fill-in-the-blank forms. Dangerous to do, too generic for more than the very simplest of "estates", and cause far more problems than they solve. In most cases, an attorney would have to be hired - often at greater cost - to unravel the problems these so-called inexpensive methods propose to achieve WITHOUT one.

Second - An "Advance Health Care Directive" serves essentially as a "living will". They differ for each state, and in many cases are available in downloadable format.

Third, think "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care" for someone you wish to make such decisions on your behalf, when you are not able to do so yourself. The directives can be as specific, or as broad, as you wish, but should not be initiated without benefit of the guidance of an Estate Planning attorney.

On that last note, I MEAN an attorney who specializes in Wills, Trusts, & Probate Law. Not your divorce attorney. And not the attorney who might have gotten you off on that felony you were charged with.

Lastly, you probably don't realize that YOU ALREADY HAVE A WILL.

Each state has Laws of Intestate Succession (Dying "Intestate"), meaning that should you die without having prepared a Will in advance, the state you reside in has one prepared FOR you, just in case. And since they don't know you, OR your family dynamics, THEIR Will is essentailly the same for everyone who dies without having prepared one otherwise. And I can assure you that the majority of people who fall into this group are not going to like how the state splits up your assets. Trust me on this one.

Get professional guidance. It's worth the small price you'll pay for all the expense, and grief it saves down the road.
last edited: 9/29/07 12:46:07 PM”

“"Tan me hide when I'm dead Fred.
Tan me hide when I'm dead.
So we tanned his hide when he died, Clyde
And that's it hanging on the shed."”

“I wonder if I can have my tattoo's tanned and framed. That would be cool.”

“I believe so.

( Bad flashback to WWII ! )”