Tennessee Living Will Document

What is a Tennessee Living Will?

A Tennessee Living Will is a legal document that allows an individual, known as the principal, to make decisions about their healthcare in advance. In case they become unable to make those decisions for themselves, this document provides instructions on the types of medical treatment they want or do not want. This can include decisions regarding life-sustaining treatment, artificially provided food and water, and other end-of-life care preferences.

Who can create a Tennessee Living Will?

Any competent adult who is 18 years of age or older can create a Tennessee Living Will. The individual must be able to understand the nature and consequences of their healthcare decisions at the time the Living Will is made. The document must be signed by the principal in the presence of two witnesses, who also need to sign the document, or it must be notarized.

How can someone revoke a Tennessee Living Will?

A Tennessee Living Will can be revoked at any time by the principal, regardless of their mental state or health condition. Revocation can be done in several ways, including:

1. By destroying the document physically, such as by tearing, burning, obliterating, or otherwise.
2. By creating a written, signed, and dated statement expressing the intent to revoke the Living Will.
3. By orally expressing the intent to revoke the document in the presence of a witness who is 18 years of age or older.
4. By creating a new Living Will that contradicts the old one.

It's crucial to communicate the revocation to the health care providers to ensure it is respected and carried out.

What should be included in a Tennessee Living Will?

A Tennessee Living Will should include specific instructions about the medical care and treatments the principal wants or does not want, especially in situations where they are facing a terminal condition or are permanently unconscious. This includes:

• Directions on the use of life-sustaining treatments.
• Choices regarding the use of artificially provided food and water.
• Preferences for pain management and comfort care.
• The name of a healthcare agent, if the principal chooses to appoint one, who will make healthcare decisions in accordance with the principal's wishes outlined in the Living Will.
• Signatures of the principal and either two witness or a notary public to validate the document.

These elements ensure that the document clearly reflects the principal's healthcare preferences and is legally recognized.

Filling out a living will in Tennessee is a step towards ensuring your wishes regarding medical treatment are respected, should you become unable to express them yourself. However, careful attention to detail is needed to avoid common mistakes that can hinder the document's effectiveness. Here are nine mistakes people often make:

1. Not specifying preferences clearly: It is crucial to clearly articulate your medical treatment preferences, including conditions where you would refuse treatment. Vague language leaves room for interpretation, potentially leading to outcomes you didn’t intend.
2. Forgetting to update the document: Life changes, such as new diagnoses or shifts in beliefs, necessitate updates to your living will to ensure it reflects your current wishes. Unfortunately, many forget this, leaving them with an outdated document.
3. Not discussing with family: Failing to communicate your wishes to your family can lead to confusion and conflict in stressful situations. Having a clear conversation ensures everyone understands your preferences and can advocate for them.
4. Omitting a healthcare power of attorney: A living will is crucial, but pairing it with a healthcare power of attorney, who makes decisions when you can't, provides comprehensive protection of your wishes. Neglecting to appoint one leaves a crucial decision-making role unfilled.
5. Improper signing procedures: Each state has its requirements for witnessing and notarizing living wills. Tennessee mandates involve specific formalities that, if unmet, can render the document invalid.
6. Using generic forms without state-specific clauses: While generic living will forms are readily available, they might not contain provisions or language specific to Tennessee law. This oversight can lead to enforcement issues.
7. Not distributing copies appropriately: After finalizing the living will, it's essential to distribute copies to your healthcare proxy, family members, and doctors to ensure your wishes are honored. Sadly, many store it away without informing these key individuals.
8. Choosing the wrong person as healthcare proxy: It's not just about choosing someone you trust but also someone who is capable of making difficult decisions under stressful conditions. Picking a proxy without considering their ability to uphold your wishes can be a grave mistake.
9. Skipping the details on specific treatments: While stating general preferences is important, delving into your wishes regarding specific treatments, like mechanical ventilation or feeding tubes, adds clarity. Often, people skip these details, leading to potentially unwanted interventions.

By avoiding these mistakes, individuals can ensure their living wills are clear, comprehensive, and capable of guiding their loved ones and healthcare providers in making decisions that align with their values and preferences. It’s about taking control of your healthcare journey and ensuring your voice is heard, even when you might not be able to speak.

When preparing for end-of-life decisions, individuals often consider creating a Living Will to express their wishes regarding medical treatment. A Tennessee Living Will form is an essential document for this purpose, but it is commonly accompanied by several other forms and documents to ensure comprehensive planning. Each additional document serves a specific role in detailing the individual's health care preferences, legal determinations, and the management of their estate.

• Power of Attorney for Health Care: This document allows an individual to appoint another person to make health care decisions on their behalf if they become unable to do so themselves.
• Advance Care Plan: Similar to a Living Will, an Advance Care Plan provides detailed instructions about the kind of medical care the individual would like to receive if they are unable to communicate their decisions due to illness or incapacity.
• Durable Power of Attorney: This form grants someone else the authority to make decisions on the individual’s behalf regarding financial affairs and property management, ensuring that their assets are handled according to their preferences.
• Do Not Resuscitate Order (DNR): A DNR is a medical order indicating that a person does not want to receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if their heart stops or if they stop breathing.
• Organ and Tissue Donation Consent Form: This document specifies an individual's wishes regarding the donation of their organs and tissues after death.
• HIPAA Release Form: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) release form allows healthcare providers to share an individual's medical information with designated persons.
• Last Will and Testament: This legal document outlines how an individual’s property and assets are to be distributed after their death. It can also specify guardianship preferences for minor children.
• Funeral Planning Declaration: This document allows an individual to specify their preferences for funeral arrangements and the handling of their remains.

Properly preparing these documents in conjunction with a Tennessee Living Will form can significantly ease the burden on family members during challenging times. It ensures that an individual's health care and estate preferences are clearly communicated and legally recognized, providing peace of mind to all involved parties.

The Tennessee Living Will is closely aligned with an Advance Healthcare Directive. Both documents enable individuals to outline their preferences for medical treatment in the event they can no longer communicate their wishes due to incapacity. Where a Living Will typically focuses on end-of-life decisions, such as life support withdrawal, an Advance Healthcare Directive can encompass these preferences while also appointing a healthcare proxy to make decisions on their behalf.

Similar in nature to a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, a Tennessee Living Will allows a person to make known their medical treatment preferences. However, the Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare goes a step further by designating another individual to make healthcare decisions on the person's behalf, not limited to end-of-life situations, offering a broader scope of decision-making power when the person cannot speak for themselves.

The Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Order shares common ground with the Tennessee Living Will in its purpose to inform medical personnel of a person’s desire not to undergo CPR or advanced cardiac life support if their heart stops or they stop breathing. A Living Will is broader, covering various life-sustaining treatments, whereas a DNR specifically addresses the absence of resuscitative efforts in a medical crisis.

A Healthcare Proxy is another document that shares similarities with a Tennessee Living Will, as both are focused on healthcare decisions. The key difference lies in their approach: while a Living Will records a person's specific treatment preferences, a Healthcare Proxy designates another individual to make healthcare decisions, without necessarily detailing what those decisions should be. The emphasis is on the appointee's judgement rather than predetermined instructions.

Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) also align with the ethos behind the Tennessee Living Will. MOST outlines a comprehensive plan for end-of-life care, detailing which treatments a person wishes to receive or avoid. Similar to a Living Will, it guides healthcare providers on interventions such as ventilator use or feeding tubes, but is typically more detailed and used for individuals with serious illnesses.

The Five Wishes Document is broader than a Tennessee Living Will but shares the purpose of communicating healthcare preferences. It addresses personal, spiritual, and emotional wishes alongside medical desires, offering a holistic approach to end-of-life planning. This document goes beyond traditional healthcare directives by facilitating deeper reflection and conversation about one’s values and wishes in a broad array of scenarios, making it a complementary tool for end-of-life planning.

When filling out the Tennessee Living Will form, it's important to be thorough and accurate. Following these guidelines will help ensure your living will is valid and clearly communicates your wishes.

Do:

1. Read all instructions carefully before you begin filling out the form.
2. Use a black or blue pen, ensuring that the writing is legible and permanent.
3. Include complete and accurate personal information, such as your full name, address, and date of birth.
4. Be specific about your healthcare wishes, detailing what treatments you do or do not want.
5. Sign and date the form in the presence of the required witnesses or a notary public, as dictated by Tennessee law.
6. Provide copies of the completed form to your healthcare provider, a trusted family member, or a friend.

Don't:

• Fill out the form in a hurry. Take your time to consider all your healthcare decisions and the implications.
• Use pencil or any ink that can easily be erased, as this could lead to questions about the form's authenticity.
• Leave sections of the form blank. If a section does not apply, write "N/A" (not applicable) to show you did not overlook it.
• Forget to update your living will if your healthcare wishes change. It's important to keep the document current.
• Sign without the required witnesses or notary present. This could invalidate the document.
• Rely solely on verbal communication of your wishes without having a completed living will form.

When discussing the Tennessee Living Will form, there are several misconceptions that people often harbor. These misunderstandings can affect the decisions people make about their end-of-life care. It's essential to clarify these issues to ensure that individuals are well-informed when they prepare their Living Wills.

• Only the Elderly Need a Living Will: A common misconception is that Living Wills are only for the elderly. However, unforeseen medical situations can occur at any age, and having a Living Will ensures that your healthcare preferences are respected, regardless of your age.

• A Living Will is the Same as a Last Will and Testament: Some people mistakenly believe that a Living Will and a Last Will and Testament are the same document. A Living Will specifies your preferences for medical treatment if you are unable to make decisions yourself, while a Last Will and Testament deals with the distribution of your assets upon death.

• Doctors Can Ignore My Living Will: There's a misconception that doctors can disregard Living Wills if they disagree with the content. However, in Tennessee, medical professionals are legally obligated to follow the directives in a Living Will, provided the document conforms to state laws.

• A Living Will is Legally Binding Once Signed: For a Living Will to be legally binding in Tennessee, it must not only be signed but also witnessed by two individuals who are not related to you by blood or marriage and are not beneficiaries of your estate. It can also be notarized in place of witnesses.

• A Living Will Eliminates the Need for a Health Care Proxy: Many believe that once they have a Living Will, there's no need for a Health Care Proxy, or Power of Attorney for Health Care. However, a Living Will covers only specific situations, while a Health Care Proxy can make decisions in circumstances not covered by the Living Will.

• My Family Can Override My Living Will: It's a common belief that family members can override the directives in a Living Will if they disagree with them. In reality, if your Living Will complents Tennessee requirements, healthcare providers are instructed to follow your Living Will, even if family members have different wishes.

• Living Wills Are Difficult to Revise: Some people hesitate to execute a Living Will, believing it is difficult to change once it's made. The truth is, you can revise your Living Will at any time as long as you are mentally competent to do so, ensuring that your end-of-life wishes are always up to date.

• Living Wills Are Only About Refusing Treatment: A pervasive misconception is that Living Wills are only used to refuse medical treatment. While they can specify treatments you do not want, they can also be used to request certain treatments or specify conditions under which you would want to receive treatment.

Understanding the facts about Tennessee Living Wills helps people make informed decisions about their healthcare and ensures their wishes are respected, no matter what the future holds.

The Tennessee Living Will form is an important document for individuals wanting to outline their wishes regarding medical treatment in the event they become unable to communicate. Here are key takeaways that should be kept in mind when filling out and using this document:

• Legal recognition: The State of Tennessee recognizes the Living Will as a legal document allowing individuals to state their decisions about end-of-life care.
• Eligibility requirements: To complete a Tennessee Living Will, one must be an adult of sound mind, capable of making informed healthcare decisions.
• Witnesses or notarization: The document typically requires notarization or the signature of witnesses to be considered valid. It is crucial to adhere to the specific legal requirements regarding witnesses or notarization for the document to be enforceable.
• Scope of decisions: This form allows individuals to make decisions about accepting, rejecting, or discontinuing medical treatments that prolong life. This includes decisions about artificial nutrition and hydration.
• Power of Attorney for Healthcare: People often pair the Living Will with a Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare, designating someone to make healthcare decisions on their behalf if they are unable to do so themselves.
• Revocation: The individual may revoke or terminate their Living Will at any time, irrespective of their mental state. This revocation can be made in any form of communication.
• Distribution: It is advised to distribute copies of the completed Living Will to relevant parties, including healthcare providers, family members, and the designated Health Care Agent if a Power of Attorney for Healthcare exists. Ensuring that the document is accessible when needed is of utmost importance.