Mississippi Living Wills
Mississippi residents can create a living will in which they can express their desires about health care treatments. These documents get used once you've lost your ability to make your own decisions about health care or are no longer able to express your desires. Talk to a Mississippi attorney if you need legal advice about living wills in the state.
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Individual Instructions
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As a patient, you have the right to determine for yourself what kind of medical care you want to receive. By using a living will, you can ensure your desires are followed after you lose capacity. Living wills in Mississippi, usually known as individual instructions, can be made either orally or in writing. While oral individual instructions can be used, written instructions are usually preferable as they are objective and can be used by anyone who has a copy.
Requirements
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Mississippi allows anyone who is an adult or an emancipated minor to create a living will. (An emancipated minor is a person under the age of 18 who has been granted legal adulthood, usually as a result of getting married.) You must sign and date a written living will and have it signed by two witnesses, one of whom cannot be related to you. You must also have the document notarized.
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Terms and Changes
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The law imposes no specific requirements about what you must have in your living will. You can be as general or as specific as you want and can make any choices you deem appropriate. You can change your living will in Mississippi at any time as long as you remain of sound mind. You don't have to make these changes in writing and can simply tell your doctor or health care providers that you've changed your mind.
Physician's Role
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When you make a living will, you rely upon your doctors and health care providers to follow your instructions. Mississippi, however, does not have a law that forced health care workers to comply if they have on objection or are otherwise unwilling to comply. In these instances, for example, your physicians must inform you of their refusal to comply with the terms of your living will. They must also make a reasonable effort to see that you get transferred to the care of a physician who will comply.
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