Whenever I draft a living will for our client, I have to tell them that really its purpose is to simply name someone who can make artificial life support decisions for them. In the event that they could not talk to the doctor themselves, or communicate at all with the doctor. So, it is in cases of when the client is incapacitated, they have named someone to make that health care decision of being put on life support or being taken off of it.

                    

And, then I tell them don't get wrapped up too much about what the rest of the document says because no one pays any attention to it. The truth of the matter is, on a very practical basis, that when someone is in the hospital and you have to make the decision to put them on life support, the hospital is going to ask the family to make the decision every single time or whoever they've named in their living will. The hospital is going to do exactly what that person says to them. So, I don't care if you have 14 living wills that say, "Do not put me on life support," if your family members are standing there saying, "Do everything possible." 

                    

They are going to put that patient on life support and it's for a very common sense reason. If the patient dies, who would sue the hospital? It would be those family members, so that's why the family members are listened to and that's why the hospital does exactly what they say. So, the most important thing that you can do, is express to the people that you name in your living will to make the decision exactly what you want them to do if that situation were to come up, so that they are carrying out your intentions.