Living Will Form - New York

What Is a New York Living Will?

A Living Will is a document used if a patient is for any reason unable to express their decisions and desires related to end-of-life medical care. The will comes into effect when a person is incapacitated to the point where they are no longer able to actively take part in making the decisions for their own life or unable to direct their physician to do so.

An individual has the right to print a will with the objective to give it to the medical personnel in order to inform them about the type of care they wish to have or wish to avoid in situations of terminal illnesses or incapacitation.

How to Make a Living Will in New York?

A legal Living Will form may be used in the State of New York to make an individual's wishes about the medical treatment or other care they would or would not want to receive in case of an emergency known to the medical staff and their caregivers.

The individual can print out the will nominating a personal representative, establishing a party for life-sustaining consultations and specifying their wishes regarding treatment and artificially provided food and hydration.

The personal representative - or a health care proxy - is an elected agent tasked with making the important medical decisions if no other means of communication with the individual are available.