A Living Will is different from a Living Trust and is different from a Will. A Living Will is a written statement instructing your family and doctor about what, if any, life-prolonging medical procedures you desire to be performed if your condition is terminal and there is no chance of recovery. In Nevada, it is known as a “Declaration” and allows you to declare your end of life care decisions.

You Have the Right to Refuse Medical Treatment

You have the right to refuse medical treatment. A Living Will gives you the opportunity to express your wishes in advance, since you may not be able to make those desires known when it becomes necessary to do so. Life prolonging procedures include assistance with breathing when you cannot breathe on your own, performing operations or prescribing antibiotics that cannot realistically increase your chance of recovery, starting your heart mechanically when it has stopped beating, or feeding you through a tube, etc.

In Nevada, a physician must follow the terms of your Living Will (Declaration) when:

You have an incurable and irreversible condition that, without the administration of life-sustaining treatment, will result in death within a relatively short time; and

You are not able to communicate your desires, such as if you are in a coma.

A Living Will can be very specific or very general. An example of a statement sometimes found in a Living Will is: “If I suffer an incurable, irreversible illness, disease, or condition and my attending physician determines that my condition is terminal, I direct that life-sustaining measures that would serve only to prolong my dying be withheld or discontinued.”