Pennsylvania Living Wills
The Pennsylvania Statute on Advanced Health Care Decision Making (Living Wills) includes two recommended forms of living wills. The first is a short form living will. This form may be found on the internet by searching for Pennsylvania Living Wills. One location is:
eforms.com/living-will/pennsylvania-living-will-form/
There is also a longer form titled Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will. This is our recommended form as it combines all health care directives in one document. It includes not just end of life decision making as in the short form but also provides for substituted health care decision making any time you cannot make or communicate your own decisions about your medical treatment. As an example of a useful advanced health care decision, if you have Alzheimer's Disease which substantially impacts your decision making and with no chance of significant recovery, you can decide that you do not want to be treated for any life threatening disease (basically, you do not want to be kept alive if you have no quality of life.) A free version with instructions is provided by AARP. Simply click this link:
http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/relationships/caregiving/2011_01/ad/Pennsylvania.pdf
It is important to remember that both provide for substituted health care decision making only if you are not capable of making and communicating your own choices regarding your medical care. As long as you can tell a doctor what you want, you can still decide what medical treatment and care you want, including not being treated.
These forms are "fill in the blanks" forms which you can do in pen or, if you have the right program and knowledge, you can fill them in on your computer. You should consult with your doctor and attorney if you have any questions about completing the form or about your rights concerning the appointment of a health care agent. We provide this link as a service to those people who may have difficulty searching for this information on their own. If you have any questions about this form or other legal matters, please contact us.
eforms.com/living-will/pennsylvania-living-will-form/
There is also a longer form titled Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will. This is our recommended form as it combines all health care directives in one document. It includes not just end of life decision making as in the short form but also provides for substituted health care decision making any time you cannot make or communicate your own decisions about your medical treatment. As an example of a useful advanced health care decision, if you have Alzheimer's Disease which substantially impacts your decision making and with no chance of significant recovery, you can decide that you do not want to be treated for any life threatening disease (basically, you do not want to be kept alive if you have no quality of life.) A free version with instructions is provided by AARP. Simply click this link:
http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/relationships/caregiving/2011_01/ad/Pennsylvania.pdf
It is important to remember that both provide for substituted health care decision making only if you are not capable of making and communicating your own choices regarding your medical care. As long as you can tell a doctor what you want, you can still decide what medical treatment and care you want, including not being treated.
These forms are "fill in the blanks" forms which you can do in pen or, if you have the right program and knowledge, you can fill them in on your computer. You should consult with your doctor and attorney if you have any questions about completing the form or about your rights concerning the appointment of a health care agent. We provide this link as a service to those people who may have difficulty searching for this information on their own. If you have any questions about this form or other legal matters, please contact us.