Living Wills for Maryland
While thinking about the end of life is not always easy to do, living wills allow you to make your wishes about health care clear in the event you can no longer express yourself. Maryland residents can create a living will at any time, though the document must comply with state laws. Talk to a Maryland attorney if you need advice or help with living wills or other advance directives.
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Health Care Instructions
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Maryland allows advance directives known as a "Health Care Instruction," commonly referred to as living wills. This document addresses your wishes for care if you have a terminal condition, if you fall into a persistent vegetative state, or PVS, and if you are in an end-stage condition. The living will can also address issues such as whether you want to receive CPR, be placed on a ventilator and what kind of medication you want for pain relief, if any.
Health Care Instructions Requirements
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You can make a living will and other advance directives in Maryland as long as you are a capable adult. Your living will must be made in writing, though you don't have to prepare it yourself. You do, however, have to sign it, and you must do so in the presence of two competent witnesses, according to the Maryland Attorney General's Office. If you name a health care agent, that agent cannot serve as one of the witnesses.
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An Appointment of a Health Care Agent
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Maryland allows for another form of advance directives in addition to a living will, called "An Appointment of a Health Care Agent." This is a document in which you give someone else the power to make health care decisions on your behalf. In other states, these are often referred to as a durable power of attorney for health care or a health care proxy.
Register of Wills
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Maryland has a Register of Wills, a state office established in each Maryland County and the City of Baltimore. The Register of Wills is responsible for key parts of the probate process, but is not involved with living wills. A last will and testament is a very different document than a living will, and only applies after a person dies. The Maryland Register of Wills can keep your last will and testament safe while you are alive, but does not act as a repository for living wills.
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References
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