Wills and Living Wills

Why Do I Need A Will Or Living Will (Advance Healthcare Directive)

While our focus on this website is consumer litigation, there is a related area of the law that we want to discuss. That is in the area of consumer protection by using wills and living wills (or "advance healthcare directives" if you like big names) so that consumers can do all that is possible ahead of time for when they have died or are unable to make decisions. The goal, of course, is to have our wishes honored.

If you don't have a will then the law decides who gets what from your estate. It does not matter what you would have wanted - a set procedure is followed. This is called "intestate succession" which is a fancy way of saying you died without a will so the state will distribute your assets according to what is called "intestate succession".

If you don't have a living will or an advanced healthcare directive, then the doctors or family or a court will have to decide whether you would want life support, medicine, etc. if you are in a coma or vegetative state or in some other condition where you can't communicate.

Having a will or living will lets you decide ahead of time how to handle your affairs after death or when you are unable to communicate.

We will offer more information but for now let's briefly discuss wills and living wills by looking at some of the terms used.

WILLS
A will is simply a document that expresses your wishes as to how your estate's money will be distributed and who will be the executor of your estate.

First, your estate is a legal entity after you die. "It" is really you but since you have passed on we discuss this in terms of your estate. Your estate may have certain assets (cash, cars, condos, etc) and certain liabilities (mortgages, credit cards, etc).

Second, when we discuss "distribution" we mean how will the assets of your estate (after paying the required creditors or debts) be divided up. Will it all go to your spouse? Your children? A favorite charity? (Yes, some do even list their animal). Will you divide your assets into a portion to a spouse and a portion to your children? The law gives you great flexibility here.

Third, you get to nominate a person to run the estate - called an executor (or executrix). This is the representative of the estate. The will can set out responsibilities of the executor within the limits of the law. Do you want your surviving husband or wife to have this responsibility? One of your children? Your trusted accountant? Your will is the chance to make this decision.

LIVING WILL
We have all seen newspaper or TV reports of someone in a vegetative state and the family is fighting over whether to "pull the cord" and let the person die. What would the person want? The brother says one thing, the father says something else, the mother is confident that the person would want something different. A living will allows you to spell out ahead of time what you want to happen in a variety of circumstances.

If you would like to discuss this us, please contact us today.

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Watts Law Group P.C. & M. Stan Herring P.C.
Alabama Consumer Protection Lawyers
Phone: 205-879-2447 or 205-714-4443

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