Massachusetts Living Wills
Should you have a Living Will?

A Massachusetts Living Will (also called an "Advance Directive"), is a document that expresses an individual's desire to refuse extraordinary medical treatment that will probably not effect a cure, but will result merely to prolong the process of dying. In the majority of states, a living will is a legally enforceable document but in Massachusetts, it is merely a statement of wishes without binding legal authority. The hope, however, is that your loved ones and your doctor will honor your wishes if and when the need arises.

Your Living Will should express your general wishes at the very least; but it can be as specific as you would like. If you have definite desires or preferences as to medical treatment, it is important to detail them both in the document itself and in discussions with your health care agent and physician. This corroboration of written and oral evidence will help to ensure that your wishes and values will be respected when you can no longer make these judgments on your own behalf. For example, you might want to specify your preferences about: (1) artificial nutrition and hydration; (2) cardiac resuscitation; (3) mechanical respiration; (4) antibiotics; (5) pain medicine, etc.

You should execute both a Health Care Proxy and a Living Will. The Health Care Proxy is your own expression of your attitudes and wishes about your health care while the Massachusetts Living Will is specific to the way in which you would like your life to end under certain circumstances. You will want to select a Health Care Agent that you can rely on to effectively communicate the views expressed in your Living Will, to your physician to help ensure that they will be honored.