A Living will is not actually a will at all, but in fact a ‘health care declaration’. It provides clear and convincing evidence of a persons wishes when that person is unable to act for themselves.

If you became ill (either through either accident or illness) and were unable to communicate your wants and needs, there are standard procedures in place which will attempt to restore your health. There are certain situations however, when this is not possible – you may be in a coma and unable to speak or have a debilitating illness and this ultimately means that you cannot have a say as to what (if any) continuing treatment should be given.

With the ongoing advances in medical treatment you may be kept alive - albeit in a comatose state - for an indefinite period of time. The time may come however, when it is deemed that you may not recover and so treatment is halted. Even in situations such as these, doctors and family members are still left wondering “did we do the right thing??”

Whilst you are in good health and have all your faculties, you may decide that in the event of things going drastically wrong, you certainly wouldn’t want to be kept alive by machines, only to wake up and live the rest of your days in a vegetative state.

By writing a Living Will, you decide what happens in circumstances under which you have no control and then perhaps you can die with dignity and not live a life which has lost all meaning and purpose.