Talk To Aging Family Members About Living Wills

For instance, if you’ve created a living will or traditional will, then you might use your actions to jump-start the conversation about the same process for your loved ones. A living will is important because it gives you the avenue through which to make medical decisions for yourself moving future forward that will dictate how you want things handled if you can no longer make decisions for yourself.

Start with your situation. Talk about what decisions you’ve made, who you’ve advocated to be the beneficiary and/or administrator for your Arizona living will. Then, use that conversation to lead into whether or not your close family members and friends have yet to do the same. Talk about how your Arizona living will is a guiding document that gives the entire family a clear outline for decisions you want made on your behalf.

The beauty of this document is that once you’ve filed it with your local medical center, it is not something that can then be changed or altered, unless you deign to do so. This means that whether your family members accept it or not, your wishes will be followed. As you talk with older family members about this course of action, that is something that may be comforting to them. As will the fact that you are all on the same page when it comes to your estate planning and wishes for this kind of planning.

It is a discussion that should be had in any family, and if you’ve engaged in planning already, then don’t hesitate to bring older loved ones into the fray of the conversation. You might ensure that they engage in planning that they might not otherwise have done without talking to them about it. An Arizona living will is an important document and one that will give not only those creating it peace of mind, but the rest of the family as well.