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Processor (AppleWorks)
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Living Will (SHK)
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2_LIVING.WILL.shk
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READ.ME
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.txt
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AppleWorks Document
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1992-03-08
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7KB
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115 lines
O=====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<====<===
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INTRODUCTION
Within the growing debate, both public and academic concerning D
B"medical ethics," a major portion of scrutiny has been focused on F
Dthe rights of the patient, and specifically, the right of a patient F
Dto request that, when the final diagnosis shows immanent death, and D
Bonly prolongation of the life processes by artificial means, that +
these processes be withdrawn or withheld.
Several lawsuits in the last few years have focused on the @
>issue of whether the patient actually
made their wishes G
Eregarding termination sufficiently known prior to becoming unable to F
Dcommunicate with either their family members or their care-givers. D
BIn some of these lawsuits, while family members and close friends F
Dwere adamant in their statements that such requests were previously D
Bmade by the patient, or at least wishes and attitudes alluded to, @
>others, either hospital staff or special-interest groups have E
Cattempted to make sure that life support continued. Since several D
Bof these patients were clinically brain-dead, no hope of recovery
was possible.
Many states have allowed "Living Wills" to be incorporated F
Dinto a person's legal papers and will allow such a document to have B
@final expression of the patient's wishes. Even in those states ?
=which haven't as yet legally recognized the Living Will, the G
Eexistence of such a document properly completed may be used in Court G
Eproceedings by the patient's surviving family members. Some States, B
@such as Illinois (where I live) also recognize documents called A
?"Power of Attorney of Health Care" which specifically names an E
Cindividual who will make decisions for you when you are physically A
?unable to make such decisions for yourself. Since this latter F
Ddocument will differ from state to state (the Living Will itself is F
Dpatterned on the national model and is acceptable without changes), E
Cyou will need to obtain this form locally. Most stationary stores C
Ausually stock "standard" legal forms, such as leases, and should C
Aalso stock the Power of Attorney of Health Care specific to your
State.
USING THE FORM
Make three copies of the form, and make sure the sections F
D(other than "copies given to") are completed in their entirety, and E
Cproperly notarized. Once you've decided who to give the forms to, F
Dyou can fill their names in on the copies. Make sure when deciding G
Ewho you give them to that these people will 1) be available should A
?the need ever arise, to produce the document and get it to the G
Eproper authorities, and 2) be willing to carry out your wishes. I G
Ealso took a photostatic copy of the final document (with the "copies D
Bgiven to" section completed) and gave it to my personal physician @
>for inclusion in my medical files. Since my Doctor shares my G
Ebeliefs in the use of the Living Will, he was agreeable to this, and G
Ehas even stamped the word "Living Will on the cover of my file, just D
Bin case he may not be immediately available should the records be D
Brequired by other medical staff. This might not be an option for B
you should you physician not agree with the use of Living Wills.
PRINTING THE LIVING WILL
You will find 2 different Living Will files included in this C
Apacket. In both, you will find CPI 9 used. I have set my 9 CPI D
Bcodes to print in italics mode throughout the document since this G
Eseems to be somewhat of a norm for many legal documents these days. E
CYou don't have to use italics, but I've found that it does produce
an attractive document.
Printing in all italics is not a problem with any of the ?
=dot-matrix printers I've used, but the non-LaserWriter laser D
Bprinters I've used do not have the option of printing bold italic G
Eprint. In order to use bold headings, standard Courier is used, and 3
the italics is used for the body of the document.
Go thru the document and change all the pertinent information:
City and StateC
County (or Parish) and State for the Notary informationA
him/her in the attesting section to the proper gender
If you're sure of the date that the document will be signed E
Cand notarized on, go ahead and fill in the dates. Otherwise, just E
leave the lines where they are and fill them in at the proper time.
DOT-MATRIX PRINTERS
Make sure you've chosen the Letter Quality mode of your B
@printer and print out 1 copy. Since legal documents are 14" in F
Dlength, and the majority of users will be using 11" continuous feed H
Fpaper, Appleworks will print this document as if 14" paper was used. G
ETear the printout at the last perforation, and then cut the document G
Einto thirds to fit a 14" size sheet (using a 14" piece of paper will E
Chelp you keep the top and bottom margins even). You may then copy <
these pages on to 14" paper using standard copy machines.
LASER PRINTERS
Most laser printers I've used for these documents do not D
Brecognize the 14" command as sent from Appleworks; instead choose G
Elegal size printing from the printer's front panel. From that point G
Eon, all pages will print out completely and with proper margins. It C
Aalso doesn't matter if you specify 3 copies of the document from G
EAppleworks itself, or via the printer's front panel, but
make 3
copies with the laser printer.
FINDING A NOTARY
In order to assure the document stands up in a court of law, G
Emake sure the form is properly witnessed and notarized. If you work B
@in a large corporation, there probably will be several notaries F
Davailable. If this is not the case, check out your bank, or public F
Dlibrary. Or, if all else fails, every car dealer will usually have F
Da notary on hand to notarize the sales agreement. Be aware that to H
Fbe legal, the notary will only be able to complete the form when they E
Cactually see your witnesses sign the document. Once this is done, G
Emake sure the copies get sent to the parties you want to have them. B
@Having the forms sitting on your desk because you'll "mail them D
Btomorrow" may be put off one day too long. Not being morbid, but >
we've all had something like this, on a lesser scale happen.
Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer, nor do I pretend to be. I have, however, A
?had the advise and expertise of an attorney in preparing these G
Einstructions, and the Living Will itself was one he drew up for me. G
EHe assured me that he had taken it from the national model, and that F
Dit is acceptable in all 50 States and U.S. Territories. There's no C
Aguarantee that the existence of this document will forestall any A
?attempts by family members or others to go against your stated D
Bwishes, but it will go a long way to keep such incidences, should A
?they happen, to a minimum. Let's hope that none of us need to /
invoke this document for a long time to come!