Creating an advance health care directive, known as a “living will,” is an important way to have your wishes honored if you were to be in a terminal medical condition or coma with little hope of recovery. Catastrophic illnesses or accidents can happen to anyone at any time. You could hope that your spouse or other family members could tell doctors if you had shared whether you would want to be put on life support or not — but without a living will in place to explain your wishes, Pennsylvania doctors would have an obligation to keep you alive, even if that means feeding you through a tube.

That’s why a living will is an essential component of your estate plan regardless of your age. Before your instructions will be followed, you must be declared incompetent and be either in a terminal condition or permanent state of unconsciousness. A doctor must certify that you are in this condition and obtain a second opinion.