A "Living Will" is a document where you state that you do not want to be placed on or left on life support. Many people confuse the terms "living trust" and "living will". A "living trust", as stated elsewhere in this website, is a document that states who is to receive your assets when you die and is designed to avoid probate. A living will works in conjunction with a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and allows your attorney-in-fact to make the decision as to whether or not life support procedures are warranted or should be continued. In the event that life support procedures are not warranted or should not be continued, a living will allows those procedures to be discontinued.

Without a living will, it is possible that life support procedures could be instituted or continued notwithstanding the fact that no hopeful recovery is possible. Numerous cases, including the Nancy Cruzan case, have held that without a valid living will, even close family members (i.e. parents or spouses) are legally unable to make the decision to take a loved one off life support once it has been started.