За жизнь

N. and I had a discussion (for unpleasant family reasons) on our treatment options in case of ending up with a terminal illness or in a vegetative state. Turned out we had diametrically opposite preferences for end-of-life provisions. Which naturally lead to a discussion of living wills. I've heard about them but never really looked into the applicable laws, until now. Here is what I turned up:

• Most states have provisions for a living will. But strangely enough not Massachusetts or Michigan, so you better pick your health care proxy really well and make sure he knows exactly what you want and will abide by your wishes. You can still create a living will but nobody is obligated to take it into account, if I understood the law correctly.


• In a bunch of states (majority, I think) living will becomes invalid in case of pregnancy. Outrageous, in my opinion.


• There are states (very few) that don't require any witnesses for the will to be considered legal, some states require one or two witnesses (NY among them), and some states (Arizona, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia) in a bit of an overkill require two witnesses and a notary.


• Even if the state requires notarization to create a will, not even witnesses are required to revoke it. Testator can just tell the physician that he no longer wants to use the living will and voila they will fight for your life till you die.