The right to die is a touchy subject for most people. In my personal experience people are always hesitant about the Living Will. It is such a serious document. Going through and deciding which procedures you want and don't want once you are determined incapacitated. People really struggle with making those decisions, but honestly it makes your loved ones job a little easier. No one has to decide what should and shouldn't be done or guess what your final wishes will be. The loss of a loved one is hard enough without having to decide those types of things. I have found that people are good with deciding on a Healthcare surrogate and signing that they want the document to be effective immediately, in case the client were to get into an accident they don't want their surrogate to have to wait for the doctor to determine incapacity. I have never had anyone feel weird about appointing a pre-need guardian either, although in Adelman v. Elfenbein the man appointed his ex-wife to be his guardian, healthcare surrogate, and DPOA and then his family felt that she wasn't providing the proper care so they tried to fight it but the courts said that she was doing her job correctly and they would not appoint someone new because he never changed his documents post-divorce and those are his sign and sealed wishes. Lesson to be learned...if you get EP documents drafted while married and you get divorced you need to update them ASPA. I know I made sure my mom updated her post-divorce and made it clear that her ex would be responsible for making all decisions, financially and medically, for her if she didn't. The different types of advanced directives that were listed in the book are as follows and I will briefly explain the purpose of each:

Living Wills - this document allows the person to decide how they want the doctors and medical teams to handle their situation once they are at an end stage condition or persistent vegetative state. They get to list who along with two doctors gets to decide that the client has no hope of recovery.

Healthcare Surrogate - this is the person you are going to allow to speak on your behalf while you are incapacitated but this document is the document that would be referred to before the Living Will. Because at this point you might not be at an end stage condition. They might need to ask them what should be done during a surgery while you are unconscious and can't make that decision yourself.

Durable Power of Attorney - this document is specifically for financial purposes only.

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