Merge Legal Massachusetts Living Wills Forms For Free

Living will form (Personal directive), Honoring Choices Massachusetts. "Even though the Personal Directive or any Living Will in MA is not legally binding on your doctors, it gives all your care providers clear evidence of what you want and do not want for care."

There are three main disadvantages to using a living will: Living wills have a limited scope; Living wills rely on physician compliance; Living wills are not always given to health care providers.

Massachusetts law does not recognize living wills- instead, you can draft and sign a health care proxy, giving a trusted individual the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf. You can, and should, give that person as much information as you can about what you want.

Advance directives are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes. The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.

No. Massachusetts is one of only a handful of states that do not allow legally binding living wills. If you write a living will in Massachusetts, your doctors are not legally obligated to follow your wishes. However, a living will can help health care providers and the courts make decisions about your medical care.

A healthcare proxy form lets you name someone to make decisions about your medical care ? including decisions about life support ? if you can no longer speak for yourself. The document appoints someone to speak for you any time you are unable to make your own medical decisions, not only at the end of life.