When you have a living will in place, your own choices would be honored if you were to become incapacitated. Learn more about living will in New York in this presentation.

1. What Is a Living Will in New York? www.myestateplan.com
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“When you have a living will in place, your own
choices would be honored if you were to
become incapacitated.”
WHAT IS
A LIVING WILL
IN NEW YORK
MARK S. EGHRARI
NEW YORK ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEY

2. What Is a Living Will in New York? www.myestateplan.com
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You have undoubtedlyheard of the estateplanning devicecalled a last will. A last
will is a vehicle of asset transfer. It canbe used to stateyour final wishes
regarding postmortem asset transfers.
Though the last will is the most commonlyutilized legal instrument inthe field of
estateplanning, it is not theonly will that canbe used. Even if you decideto use a
last will to stateyour final wishes, you should also have another type of will called
a living will.
LIVING WILL
If you want to be comprehensivelyprepared for the latter stagesof your life, you
should address end-of-life issues. People don't typicallypassaway after having
been in good health for the days and hours leading up to their death. There can

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oftentimesbe a period of incapacitywhencommunicationisimpossible.
You account for this typeof scenariowhen you executelegally binding documents
called advancedirectivesfor health care. One of these is the living will.
A living will is utilized to stateyour preferencesregarding theuse of artificiallife-
sustaining measures.
These measureswould
includemechanical
respiration, artificial
nutrition, and artificial
hydration.
Sometimesa person can
be kept alive using these
measures, but nature
would take itscourse if themeasureswere removed. If you were in a terminal
conditionwith no hope of recovery, would you want to be kept alive indefinitely?
Thisis a questionthat you answer in your living will.
People of all ages should have a living will in place, becausecatastrophecan
strikeat any time. To understand thevalue of a living will for all responsible
adults, consider the case of Terri Schiavo.
Thiswoman experienced full cardiacarrest whenshe was still in her twenties.
She did not executea living will prior to thisevent, which took placein 1990.
Schiavoultimatelyfell into a vegetativestate, and she was kept alive through the

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utilizationofartificialmeans. Thiswent on for around eight years, and at that
point, her husband felt as though she would want the life-sustaining measures
removed. He wanted thephysiciansto takethisaction.
Her parentswere not in agreement, and they resisted mightily. Legalactions
were instituted, and theydragged on for an extended period of time.
The casewas highly publicized, and therewas a great deal of polarizing acrimony.
Ultimately, the feeding tubewas removed, and Terri passed awayin 2005,15
years after the originalcatastrophic event.

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If she had executed a living will, her family memberswould have been awareof
her true wishes, and therewould have been no cause for legal actions. Perhaps
more importantly, her own true wishes would have been honored.
Thiscase demonstrateswhy everyone should have a living will, even if you area
relatively young adult.
OTHER ADVANCE DIRECTIVES FOR HEALTH CARE
There aretwo other advance
directivesfor health care
that would typicallybe part
of a well constructed
incapacityplan. One of them
is a durablepower of
attorney.
If you createa durablepower
of attorney, you are called the grantor or the principal. Whenyou createthe
device, you namean agent or attorney-in-fact. Thispersonwould be empowered
to handle your financialaffairs inthe event of your incapacitation.
A power of attorneythat is not durablewould not be effectiveif you were to
becomeincapacitated, but a durablepower of attorneywould remainin effect.
The other advancedirectivethat iswidelyutilized is the health careproxy. You
use a health careproxyto name someone who would be empowered to make

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medicaldecisionson your behalf if you were to becomeunable to makethem on
your own.
SUMMARY
A living will is a legal document that isused to record your life-support
preferences. When you have a living will in place, your own choiceswould be
honored if you wereto becomeincapacitated.
Incapacityplanning isimportantfor all responsible adults, becauseyou never
know what the futureholds. If you are currentlyunprepared, schedulea
consultationwith a licensed estateplanning attorney.
Your lawyer will answer all of your questions, provideyou with
recommendations, and help you put a plan in place.
REFERENCES
AmericanBar Association
http://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/resources/consumer_s_toolkit
_for_health_care_advance_planning.html
Nolo
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/living-will-power-attorney-medical-
issues-29536.html

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About the Author
MarkS. Eghrari
Mark S. Eghrari is an attorney in private practice in Smithtown, New
York. He has been in practice since 1988. Mark S. Eghrari provides
extensive estate and tax planning services to individuals and
businesses. Mr. Eghrari’s primary focus is helping clients avoid
probate, minimize or eliminate Federal and State Estate taxes and
protect their assets from the high cost of nursing care, if they become
ill. Mr. Eghrari’s expertise is in providing unique and innovative
estate planning solutions that create a secure future for his clients and their loved ones. Mr.
Eghrari is a member of the American Bar Association and New York State Bar Association as
well as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and the American Academy of Estate
Planning Attorneys.
Mr. Eghrari completed his undergraduate work at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania
and received his MBA in banking and finance from Hofstra University on Long Island. He
earned his Juris Doctorate from the Hofstra University School of Law, where he was a member
of the Law Review. While in law school, Mr. Eghrari gained practical experience in the
corporate tax department of Citicorp in New York city.
Mark S. Eghrari and Associates PLLC
www.myestateplan.com
50 Karl Avenue, Suite 202
Smithtown, NY 11787
Phone: (631) 265-0599
Fax: (631) 265-0754