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Colorado Living Will


A Short Guide to Your Colorado Living Will

Colorado living wills are incredibly important documents that dictate the types of medical treatment you will receive if you are unable to dictate that treatment yourself. If you are in a state of permanent coma or your are suffering from a fatal illness, these are time times that a Colorado living will might be used. You can ask not to have your life extended through artificial means from CPR to IV food injections, or you can ask that your life be prolonged through these means for as long as possible in the hope that you will get better.

Unfortunately, despite their potential significance, many residents of Colorado lack Colorado living wills, thinking that it is too confusing or too much trouble to write them. Thankfully, nothing is further from the truth. Now understanding the different terms and concepts involved, finding your own Colorado living will could not be simpler. Consider this a short guide, helping you toward the peace of mind that only a Colorado living will can provide.

Your Health Care Plan

The focus of most Colorado living wills is certainly the medical treatment that the signer would like were they in an end-of-life scenario. The Colorado living will, for instance, may specify that if artificial nourishment is keeping the patient alive, then the nourishment should be removed. Others may ban the use of CPR to revive a terminally ill patient, and still others may make clear that life should be extended at all times and in all situations, in case the medical condition improves by miracle.

Power of Attorney

Another element that may be included in your Colorado living will, or that may reside in a separate Power of Attorney form, is the naming of what is often called a Health Care Agent. This is the person empowered to make all of your medical decisions for you when you are no longer in a state to. Since all of the important decisions should already by laid out in your end-of-life health care plan, the main responsibility of the health care agent is simply to enforce the Colorado living will. Most health care agents named in Colorado living wills are friends, relatives, and loved ones; they cannot be a health care official such as your doctor or nurse.

Printing and Validating Colorado Living Wills

Once you draft and sign your Colorado living will, the work is not yet done. Hopefully, you signed the document in front of two witnesses, who can then sign your Colorado living will. Neither of these witnesses should be your health care agent, assuming that you name a health care agent in your Colorado living will, and at least one of them should not be inline to be one of your beneficiaries and therefore profit from your death. You may also take your Colorado living will to a notary public and have it stamped and certified. Check your Secretary of State for a list of notary publics.

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