A living will is essentially advance heathcare instructions that provides answers to two primary questions:
Including a living will in your estate plan is imperative. This instrument is critical because it is your advance directive as to how you wish to be medically treated when you cannot make the decision for yourself at the time. Without one, your family, power of Clarksville estate planning attorney, or other persons could answer these questions for you. Allowing third parties to make a decision for you can be problematic. For example, let’s say that you are in a coma and unable to make decisions for yourself. The doctors tell your family that you are going to die, but you may live for weeks longer if you have a feeding tube. Your spouse wants to allow you to die comfortably, but wants a feeding tube withheld. Your spouse believes that the withholding of that feeding tube would be your wish should you had the ability to say so. By contrast, your child believes that you would want to stay alive for as long as possible and that you would desire nutrients and water to sustain your life. In this situation, who makes the decision? Would prior conversations you had when you were healthy come into play? Most likely these questions would have to be answered by a judge. The best way to avoid these potential conflicts is to make your wishes known. A living will is a very simple document and its worth taking a few minutes to prepare one. It could save your family from conflict and potentially having the Courts resolve the issue.
Yes, a living will can always be changed or even revoked. Unlike general powers of attorney, once a living will is executed it does not have to be updated. Should you wish to make a change, all that is required is that you execute a new document.
Remember that a living will is a fairly inflexible document and does not cover all contingencies. Tennessee does recognize a document called an Advance Health Care Directive, which lays out your instructions as to what should be done to you given specific medical circumstances. For example, do you want to have surgery to treat a condition even though it may not solve the condition? Do you want CPR to revive you should your heart stop? These are questions that an Advance Health Care directive answer for you. We encourage you to speak with your primary care physician if you desire to fill this document out as it is very medically specific.
If you are considering creating a living will, give the Crow estate planning lawyers a call to set up an appointment. Consultations are always free and we would love to hear from you.
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Mr Crow and his staff are amazing! Especially the person assigned to my account, so a special thank you to Callie! Callie answered all of my questions and set expectations during a very confusing time in my life. Mr Crow and his team worked diligently with my specific situation and were very results driven. I would recommend Crow Estate Planning and Probate to anyone looking for an estate or probate attorney.
Today my wife and I completed (at Crow Estate Planning and Probate) our Will, Living Will, Power of Attorney for Finance and Medical. As a Tennessee CPA for over 20 years (now retired), I’d like to leave this review so that others may benefit. Our experience rating with with Crow Estate Planning and Probate is EXCELLENT. Our legal team was Kyle Shannon, Callie and Julia. This team was competent, courteous, and professional. They made a potentially complex experience “easy” despite multiple minor trusts involved. The charge for professional services rendered was very reasonable. My wife (Denise) and I would like to thank Kyle and his team (Callie and Julia) for a great experience that exceeded our expectations. I will return for legal needs and I will refer family and others to Kyle, Callie and Julia.
I’m very grateful to Mr. Shannon and Callie for the great job they did taking care of my muniment of title. Everyone in Mr. Shannon’s office was exceedingly kind and helpful.
They are caring, very helpful and not too expensive. I would recommend them to anyone that wants to plan for their future death and their children.
Crow Estate Planning was caring, professional and took great care of our family. John personally prepared my mother’s estate and completed her final wishes. Their staff was always friendly and eager to assist. Our family strongly recommends John and Crow Estate Planning
Mr. Crow and his staff were very knowledgeable, prompt and pleasant to work with in the estate planning process. Very satisfied clients and highly recommend!
Working with Kyle Shannon and Brittney Stewart to setup our Living Trust was nothing short than amazing! Very informative, very responsive, and made the whole process easy to complete.
It was an absolute pleasure to work with Kyle establishing my Estate planning needs. Kyle was very thorough and knowledgeable. Kyle’s understanding and professionalism made for a simple and smooth process. Highly recommended!
Be far the best estate planning firm in Clarksville.
Warmly greeted. Attorney was very attentive to our needs. Reasonable fees.
Julia Mynhier 
Crow Estate Planning 
Kyle Shannon 
John Crow 
