Advice on doing an Advanced Directive

Suze Orman's book on The Ultimate Guide to Retirement for 50 Plus does a very good job of laying out what you need.

She has a kit to create your own documents I've seen her hawking on PBS but I don't know how it works. She makes it sound pretty easy to do on TV.

That's a really good suggestion R1.

Take care OP. Best of luck.

Thanks for the info R1. I will look into that.

Think hard about what you want done and ALL the possible scenarios. A friend of mine attempted suicide about 8 months ago, ended up in a coma on life support, breathing tube etc. Then two weeks into it she opened her eyes. She's now completely back to normal, even driving herself to doctor visits.

The problem is, she told her fiend not to keep her on life support but the hospital will still do that for a few days to see if you show any signs of recovery. Then when they did remove the breathing tube and we though that would be it, she still kept breathing on her own. Not well but enough. At that point her friend had to decide to starve her to death or feed her. The hospital cant just terminate you if you are living without life support.

EMTs ignore DNRs.

I thought your doc would have those forms available

There is a free workbook that our county hospital hands out.

Sorry about your loss!

Have had multiple surgeries for cancer, then years later a long hospitalization and brush with death. For $19.00/month, I have legal insurance through Met Life. I was able to do a Living Will and Trust with an attorney for $100 deductible plus about another $100 for copies and a notary service. Included in that was a detailed Advanced Directive.

But before that, I just did an Advanced Directive with the hospitals that treated me. If I recall, it was required. But if you have an unplanned hospital visit, such as being run over by a truck and you're still alive, it's good to file the doctor or hospital-provided forms with your PCP.

I revised my Living Will And Trust after getting married. Partner and I listed any and all assets we have, all bank accounts, life insurance through employers (some credit cards even include policies) and where they should go should one or both of us expire. It's called a Revocable Trust. It will make things so much easier and also reduce legal fees and taxes when the time comes. We were also able to include exactly how we want our bodies disposed of (mine will go to the local teaching hospital because it costs nothing and they'll even give me a free ride). I discovered that even simple cremations can cost several thousand. And becoming tree fertilizer was going to be over six grand! F-that. All for a visit with an attorney for $100-$200 total and huge piece of mind. Get it done and don't put it off.

Meanwhile, don't forget to be at least somewhat grateful for whatever health and time you may have on this planet, such as it is.

My boyfriend and I went to a lawyer after he was diagnosed with throat cancer. We also had a revocable trust, DNR (do not resuscitate) document, and his final Will made. He had bad experiences with his family when other family members passed away. I didn't want to deal with it. I just wanted to focus on the medical stuff. But he was right to push me into getting it done. When he passed away everything was handled. It was 2009 and our state didn't recognize same sex marriage yet, so that wasn't an option for us. I was mourning after he died and certain family members immediately wanted to see the will,--within 2 days after he died. etc. After they got their hands on it they never bothered me again. Vultures. The ironic part is they probably thought it was MY idea to get it done, but I was the one who dragged my feet the hardest.

Thanks everyone, reading all of your replies now.

I'm in California and from my rudimentary research, a DNR is a completely separate form you complete with you doctor.

I appreciate all this info.

I think you can do this online.