Life and Health

Many people, when thinking of Life insurance, imagine that it is something for the young only. They believe that Life insurance is a tool best used by newlyweds with mortgages, parents of young children, and spouses who are both employed. What does that mean for seniors? Does that mean there is no need for Life insurance in those who are retired? The answer to that question depends on your family’s needs as well as your financial picture upon retirement.

Your Family’s Needs

One of the biggest concerns among retired individuals is whether or not they have enough money set aside to last their entire lives. Since life expectancies are predictable, but an actual lifespan is not, retirees are left with an uncertain bet that the amount of money they saved for retirement is enough. Sometimes, this bet is funded with a Straight Life Annuity or pension that pays out like a Straight Life Annuity. Both of these instruments could impact the surviving spouse’s income if the annuitant or pensioner dies and there is no death benefit. When a surviving spouse stands to lose a portion of his or her income after the death of their spouse, then a Life insurance policy can provide a much needed source of continuing income to replace the lost amount.

Another consideration is whether or not you would like to use death benefit proceeds to create a trust for your grandchildren. Leaving a trust account for their college or adult years can help take some of the financial burden from your children and your grandchildren as it might allow them to avoid student loans and other debt. Funding the trust with Life insurance proceeds takes the funding burden off of your spouse and creates a fixed amount for the trust.

Financial Planning

Life insurance policies are great tools for making charitable donations upon death. If your spouse is not in need of the death benefit proceeds you can set them up either in a charitable trust or by simply naming a charity as your beneficiary. This allows your surviving spouse to see all the good your donation will do, without it impacting his or her financial picture.

Depending on how well-planned your retirement has been you may accumulate some debt in your later years that can be paid off with your Life insurance policy death benefit. Debt as simple as a car loan, small home equity loan, or even a loan for new furniture can cause undue stress to your surviving spouse and a Life insurance death benefit is an easy solution to get rid of it.

Another financial planning consideration is estate taxes. Although Life insurance death benefits are generally not taxable, the rest of your estate could be. Instead of forcing your surviving spouse to liquidate assets or take funds from a retirement account to pay estate taxes or income taxes for the year you pass away, why not buy a Life insurance policy to fulfill that need?

Conclusion

There are so many different ways that a Life insurance policy can improve your surviving spouse and family’s lives, no matter what your age is, that it is an expense everyone should consider. Without knowing what needs the future will bring, and what health complications could impact your ability to get insurance, the time to buy is now.

Some people are superstitious about insurance. They might be afraid to buy Life insurance for their children, just as some people are fearful to buy it for themselves. Others feel sure that nothing bad could ever happen to their children, so they avoid spending the money to insure a child’s life.

The real truth is that there are reasons beyond the unthinkable to insure a child’s life. A good Life insurance policy, purchased when a child is young, healthy, and far from any negative events, can pay big dividends for the child later. (And, even though we hate to think the worst, how much more awful would it be to have financial stress added to the disaster of losing a child? Peace of mind can make life as a parent much easier, too.)

In fact, most of the reasons to insure your child’s life are really about ensuring that your child can have a long, happy, prosperous life, regardless of what he or she encounters in terms of illness or accident later.

Here are a few of the reasons to consider insuring your child:

• Permanent Life insurance accumulates cash value, and that value grows tax-deferred. When the child is old enough for college, the cash could help pay for it. Or, it could help the child purchase his or her first home. If the policy was left untouched through those Life transitions, it could even help fund your child’s own retirement!
• Buying Whole Life or Universal Life insurance now guarantees your children will not be without insurance later, when they are more likely to need it. Later in life, if they should develop an illness or sustain serious injury, it could be cost prohibitive, or even impossible, to obtain coverage.
• Insuring a child’s life with Whole Life or Universal Life also means that the child’s coverage can continue regardless of military service, health conditions, or taking a college major in skydiving!

When you shop for Life insurance for a child, there’s still more to consider. For instance, you can make sure the plan you buy offers a rider to purchase additional insurance. With that option, at such specified times as marriage or the births of your grandchildren, your child may purchase additional insurance at standard rates, without reapplying. Such a rider generally offers the opportunity to increase coverage on a no-questions-asked basis.

Advances in the science of statistics, too, will more firmly establish the mortality rates of various physical conditions, hobbies, and professions. Your child becoming a member of any of those identified groups would also result in a premium hike, or the inability to purchase insurance at all.

When you purchase Life insurance for your child, your main intent — especially if you are a young parent with limited resources — might be to cover expenses you’d incur if you did lose a child to illness or accident. And that might be enough. But it’s also nice to know that there’s so much more that coverage can do to help ensure your child’s best financial future.

A new study by MassMutual Life Insurance Company suggests that your chosen profession could indicate how you react to the thought of a potential disability. MassMutual commissioned Harris Interactive during September 2006 to conduct a Web survey of 1,023 U.S. career professionals to determine how they would react to a prolonged loss of income due to disability. The insurer requested the survey because they wanted to gauge the reactions of attorneys, accountants, engineers, marketing, advertising and other professional services executives to see if they varied by occupation. The conclusion the researchers drew from their findings is that attitudes differ from profession to profession.

The MassMutual Benefits Barometer Survey: Disability Perceptions, as the study was called, accomplished three objectives. First, it rated the various professionals on their emotional response to long-term disability; second, it displayed common reasons for not owning Disability Income insurance; and third, it identified resources the different occupational groups have to help pay their bills if they are unable to work.

When it comes to emotional response, advertising and marketing professionals are the most anxious about the possibility of becoming disabled. Sixty-six percent of this group said they would feel financially insecure, and 26% answered they would be unprepared emotionally if they became disabled. Forty-one percent responded that they would be worried about being able to work again.

Attorneys and executives in professional services, including information technology and financial services, were less emotional about becoming disabled. Eighty-two percent of the attorneys polled felt they would get well and return to work. However, 70 % said that they would have anxiety toward their future financial situations, while 44% responded that they would feel like a burden to their families. The responses received from executives in professional services were neither overly anxious nor optimistic, as compared to other professionals.

When the responses provided by engineers and accountants were compared with all the career professionals surveyed, this group revealed itself to be the most dispassionate about becoming disabled. A mere 35% of engineers responded that they would feel a lack of financial security and only 27% of accountants would be worried about being able to work again.

When study participants were asked why they didn’t own Disability Income insurance, 44% said they didn’t feel they needed it, 30% said it costs too much, and 27% answered that they’re in good health.

The question concerning financial resources available to draw from in the event of a disability also drew some interesting responses. About 21% of attorneys surveyed reported they could live on half of their salary for “as long as they had to.” This group was the most likely to have a variety of resources such as stocks, bonds, mutual fund investments, home equity loans and loans from family or friends that they could use to keep them financially stable if they became disabled.

Advertising and marketing professionals were the least financially stable of all the professional groups and the least likely to say they would rely on stocks, bonds, mutual fund investments or a home equity loan to tide them over until they could return to work.

As the stock market has endured several difficult years, many people have realized their tolerance for risk is not as high as they originally believed. In fact, at this time, you might be searching for a place to set aside money that is safer and more secure than stocks. If you already have a Term Life insurance policy, or have been thinking about applying for one, you might want to consider a Whole Life policy instead. Unlike Term Life insurance, Whole Life insurance gives you coverage for your entire life, together with the chance to build cash value. Whole Life insurance allows you to save a portion of each premium payment into a tax-deferred, low-risk portfolio managed by an insurance company together with the opportunity to borrow against your policy at anytime, while still protecting your loved ones.

With Whole Life insurance you will get coverage for your entire life. Your beneficiaries will be protected and your policy will stay in effect regardless of health issues. You won’t have to worry about affording the premiums as you get older because the premiums will remain level throughout your life (depending on the contract). These advantages alone make Whole Life insurance a wise choice, but a Whole Life policy has even more to offer.

Having the advantage of cash value makes Whole Life insurance an excellent choice. After you take out your Whole Life policy, a portion of each premium payment goes toward your cash value. As the years pass by, the percentage of each premium payment placed into your cash value increases. Your cash value is invested in low-risk investments and as with most insurance companies, there is a minimum guaranteed return that you will receive regardless of what happens in the market. Having the advantage of cash value not only gives you the comfort of financial security, but you will gain borrowing power against your cash value.

There are also tax advantages that come with Whole Life insurance. With Whole Life insurance all of the return on your cash value grows tax-deferred. This means that you will not have to pay any taxes on what you earn until you decide to withdraw it. Not only will your money stay tax-deferred until you decide to use it, but you can also choose to borrow against it. Incidentally, the interest rates for your Whole Life insurance policy loan are usually lower than current market interest rates. All of these benefits are in addition to supplying your loved ones with the security of an income tax free death benefit if you choose to keep your Whole Life policy in force.

Choosing a Whole Life insurance policy will give you the peace of mind and security of life long protection. If you currently have a Term Life insurance policy, we can show you how simple it is to convert to a Whole Life policy. If you don’t have any Life insurance coverage, now is the best time to get started and start letting your insurance premiums work for you!

Many people purchase Life insurance, but fail in the critical step of selecting their beneficiaries properly. This article provides useful information on designating beneficiaries.

You are free to name just about anyone as your beneficiary. For most people it’s usually a close family member. However, you can choose any competent person or even an entity, such as a charity. Beneficiary designations can be made by naming specific people or entities; or they can be made by class, for example, my children.�

Naming individual beneficiaries is usually simple. Make sure to use full names to avoid confusion. You can be more specific by referring to birth dates or social security numbers. Designating classes can be more challenging. For instance, the designation “my children”� might lead to controversy over whether stepchildren are included. Be specific with class designations.

You can name multiple beneficiaries to receive equal or unequal shares. For multiple beneficiaries, use percentages or some other method of division not based on actual dollar amounts. For example, you can specify division in equal shares.� Dollar amounts often become outdated due to policy loans or changing cash values. You can also choose a trust as beneficiary. This can be useful in benefiting minors or disabled persons. Your primary beneficiary will always receive policy proceeds first. If this is a person, he or she must be alive when you die. If that named beneficiary is deceased, the policy proceeds go to your contingent beneficiary.

Therefore, it is important to name a contingent beneficiary. If you and your primary beneficiary pass away at the same time, your primary beneficiary is presumed to have died first. As a result, if there were no contingency plan, you wouldn’t have a named beneficiary. The policy proceeds would go to your estate. Having a named beneficiary avoids having your Life insurance benefits pass through your estate. This can save potential estate taxes as well as probate costs.

Sometimes naming a minor as a beneficiary is a bad idea. Insurance companies normally won’t make payments to them. Instead, consider a trust for the minor’s benefit. Also, most states have passed some form of the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA). Under UTMA, through a proper designation, you can transfer your Life insurance proceeds to a custodian for the benefit of minor beneficiaries.

Be sure to review your beneficiary designations on a regular basis and make any revisions necessitated by marriages, divorces, births, and deaths.

It is important to focus on two main goals in choosing beneficiaries: Make sure your designations fulfill your goals, and avoid needless legal controversies. Consult one of our financial planners for more information

As the prevalence of employer-based pension plans has declined, personal savings has become critical to achieving financial independence in retirement. For many people, individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are their primary retirement savings tool. Traditional IRAs offer tremendous savings advantages, since contributions are tax-deductible and accounts grow tax-deferred, with regular income tax due on withdrawals made after age 59 1/2. But, sometimes, financial circumstances arise that require use of IRA funds before that time. Though a 10% early withdrawal penalty generally applies to funds withdrawn from an IRA before age 59 1/2, for certain limited reasons you can tap your IRA early and not be subject to this penalty.

Remember that regular income taxes still apply to these withdrawals, though the 10% early withdrawal penalty will not:

• Education expenses: This includes the cost of college tuition, fees, books, and supplies for the IRA owner, or for a spouse, children, or grandchildren. If the student is enrolled at least half-time, the exception also applies to room and board. The school must be a college, university, or vocational school that qualifies for federal financial aid.
• First-time home purchases: You can withdraw up to $10,000 penalty-free from your IRA for a first-time home purchase ($20,000 for spouses when both are first-time buyers). The money may be used to purchase a home for the IRA holder and spouse, or for a child, grandchild, or parent. First-time home buyers are defined as those who haven’t owned a home for two years. This particular early use of IRA money can be advantageous, if used to make a larger down payment that results in a lower mortgage interest rate.
• Medical expenses: If you incur large medical expenses during the year, you can tap your IRA penalty-free to pay for them. The exception applies only to expenses that exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income.
• Health insurance premiums: The exception to the penalty also applies to Health insurance premiums, but only if you’ve lost your job and have been collecting unemployment compensation for 12 consecutive weeks.
• Permanent disability: IRA owners who become permanently disabled before age 59 1/2 can take penalty-free distributions from an IRA.
• Annuity payments: If you annuitize all or part of an IRA over your lifetime, and take a series of payments for at least five years or until age 59 1/2 (whichever is longer), the payments will be penalty-free. However, if you find you no longer need the money before the payout period ends, you cannot stop the distributions without jeopardizing their penalty-free status. Consult with a tax professional if you’re considering using this somewhat complex option.

Of course, if you use your IRA funds early, they won’t be there for you in retirement, and tapping this nest egg even partially can impact future account growth significantly. Consequently, most financial experts advise using an IRA for non-retirement expenses only as a last resort. Explore other cash sources first, such as loans or a home equity line of credit. This money can be replaced as it is paid back.

If your financial need stems in part from a cash flow problem, you also can consider making an IRA withdrawal but then reinvesting the funds in another IRA within 60 days. The IRS will view such a transaction as a rollover, and the amount returned to IRA status will be both tax- and penalty-free. You can use this strategy only once in a 12-month period for any one IRA.

An average visit with your doctor lasts about 15 minutes. The key to making the most of these precious few minutes lies in preparation. You will make a few short minutes as productive as possible, when you take steps to plan in advance. The payoff from sound preparation will be both to your health and your pocketbook. When you participate actively in the health care process, your chances of receiving the most appropriate medical care increases dramatically. Active participation includes providing all the necessary information to the doctor, as well as asking informed questions. A doctor’s ability to diagnose a medical condition correctly depends in large part on the description of symptoms and other information the patient provides.

Receiving appropriate care is not only good for your health, but it is cost effective, too. You avoid unnecessary procedures and piecemeal care, such as additional office visits and telephone consultations based on neglected questions and missing information. Here are some tips for making your doctor visit most productive:

• Know your medical history, including occurrences and dates of illnesses, hospitalizations, and surgeries.
• Know your family medical history. To some degree, determining appropriate care is based not only on your health, but on your blood-relation’s health as well. For instance, typically recommended schedules for screenings for certain types of cancers might be appropriate for an individual with occurrences of the cancer in his or her family.
• Make a list of all medications you currently take, including dosages. Be sure to include over-the-counter medications taken on a regular basis (a point that becomes more important with a growing number of formerly prescription drugs moving to over-the-counter dispensing). You increase your chances of an adverse drug reaction if a prescribing physician is not fully aware of each and every medication you take. And, according to information published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, adverse drug interactions result in 100,000 deaths yearly, and are the fourth leading cause of death, ahead of pulmonary disease, diabetes, AIDS, pneumonia, accidents, and automobile deaths.
• Do some research regarding the reason for your visit. For example, suppose you schedule a doctor’s visit for your child, who has developed symptoms consistent with asthma. Researching the condition will familiarize you with some of the terminology essential to an understanding of asthma. Then, if the doctor uses these terms during the office visit, you will be farther along on the learning curve for the condition than you would have been if hearing them for the very first time.
• In assessing the reliability of information you gather through your research, consider the source. This is always good advice but particularly so in the case of the Internet, where information can easily be posted without fact-checking or other means of accuracy assurance. Information on sites maintained by organizations or facilities in the health care field, nonprofits dedicated to specific diseases, or government agencies inherently carry a level of trustworthiness and are a good place to begin Web-based research.
• Prepare a list of questions for your visit. Many people become more anxious than usual when seeing a doctor. This anxiety, together with the time pressure frequently felt in the doctor’s office, makes it easy to forget questions you planned to ask.
• During your visit, if the physician uses terminology unfamiliar to you, be sure to ask questions. Bring a notepad with you, and ask for the correct spelling of the term, write it down, and look it up when you get home, as a check on your understanding of what the doctor has said. If you think the doctor might present confusing information, consider asking a close friend or relative to come along and listen to what the doctor has to say.
• Also during the visit, take notes covering the important aspects of what the doctor says, especially instructions involving scheduling of tests and follow-up appointments, dosages, and durations of new medications, and changes and/or limitations on activities or other lifestyle issues. Here again, a close friend or relative to serve as an extra set of ears could be helpful.

Although preparing for a doctor’s visit involves some work, consider the time a well-spent investment in your health — and in your health care dollars.

You’re older now, your children are grown, and you have a plenty of assets, including a healthy retirement portfolio. So, should you ditch that Life insurance plan? Many people reach a point in their lives when they begin to question the necessity of Life insurance. Obviously, your situation has changed quite a bit since you initially purchased the policy. More than likely, you no longer have young children who rely on your income. By now, your children are probably out of the house and earning their own income. If you were to die, your spouse would be covered by income from your retirement investments.

However, there are still plenty of compelling reasons for you to hang on to that Life insurance policy. For one, it offers financial peace of mind. As a matter of fact, the more Life insurance coverage a person has, the more confident they are about their financial security, according to a 2008 Journal of Financial Planning survey. Of course, financial confidence isn’t the only benefit of Life insurance. Before you run out and cancel that policy, consider the countless advantages Life insurance has to offer at any age. Here are five good reasons to hold onto that policy:

Advantage #1: It prevents financial loss for your loved ones. If any of your loved ones would suffer from a financial loss if you were to die, you definitely need to keep your Life insurance policy. Life insurance is critical for the following people:

• Couples in their peak earning years
• Parents of non-adult children or grown children with special needs
• Retirees who will lose a substantial portion of income if one spouse dies
• Families with a large estate that will be subject to estate tax
• Business owners and business partners
• People who want to pass monetary assets on to their heirs tax-free

If you fall into one of these categories, you still have a significant need for Life insurance.

Advantage #2: It ensures a comfortable retirement for your spouse. You might assume your retirement investments would provide plenty of income for your spouse if you were to die. However, it’s important to ask yourself a couple of critical questions: If I were to die tomorrow, would my spouse be able to maintain his or her current quality of life? Would he or she still be able to save up for a comfortable retirement? Probably not. Suddenly faced with a smaller income, your spouse might end up cutting back on retirement contributions to make ends meet. That could put his or her retirement years at risk. However, if you were to hold onto that Life insurance policy, the proceeds could give your spouse enough income to cover every day expenses, allowing them to continue to build up a nest egg.

Advantage #3: It offers quick cash for your family. Life insurance death benefits can provide fast cash for your surviving loved ones. As long as your policy is up-to-date and in order, your beneficiary could collect the death benefit as quickly as a couple of weeks after your death. This money could be essential at that time, as your spouse could be facing massive medical bills, outstanding debts, taxes, probate costs, and other final expenses.

Advantage #4: It helps to shield your estate. If you own a successful small business or have a high net worth, your family could be subject to estate taxes after your death. Depending on the value of your estate, these taxes can be steep — and this could create serious financial hardship for your loved ones. Without Life insurance, many or all of your assets could be liquidated to pay your estate taxes. You can prevent this from happening with a Life insurance policy.

Advantage #5: It allows you to leave behind a legacy. Life insurance also enables you to leave behind an inheritance to your children or grandchildren. This money could help pay for your son’s graduate school expenses or your granddaughter’s wedding. Even if they don’t need this money, you might want them to have it. It might be worth it to give up some of your income now to make sure your loved ones receive a special gift later.

On the other hand, you could use the proceeds from your policy to make a significant contribution to your favorite charity. If there’s a special charity that’s near and dear to your heart, you could continue to pay just a little into a Life insurance each month so you can leave something behind to the cause.

Of course, whether you choose to keep your Life insurance policy after retirement is entirely up to you. There is no “right”� answer — it all depends on your unique situation. If you’re struggling to make this decision, discuss the pros and cons with one of our financial advisors.

Have you ever considered how a long-term disability could impact your financial security? If you haven’t, you should. According to the Council for Disability Awareness, 2.3 million Americans filed Social Security disability claims in 2008. Furthermore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 25 million Americans currently live restrictively, due to the effects of a disability. Perhaps you’ve paid attention to such statistics, and are covered under a disability income plan at work. And maybe you’ve even supplemented that plan with an individual policy. Even if you’ve taken these important steps, chances are that, in the event of a disability, these policies might replace only about 60%-70% of your pre-disability earnings. This sum might cover your living expenses, but is unlikely to be sufficient to allow you to save for retirement or any other future need. Furthermore, most Disability Income policies end payouts at age 65 or your normal Social Security retirement age.

Nowadays, it is more important than ever to make regular contributions to a retirement plan or IRA. Sadly, the days of widespread coverage under a traditional pension plan, funded by an employer and paying a guaranteed income for life, are gone. Although some individuals are still covered under a traditional pension plan, one is more likely to participate in a defined contribution plan, such as a profit sharing or 401(k) plan. These plans typically rely heavily on employee contributions in order to build up a sizable account balance.

It is wise to consider the possibility of becoming disabled during retirement, and to plan ahead for this scenario. Failing to make retirement plan contributions can have a dramatic impact on the accumulated nest egg at retirement age. For instance, an individual who, at age 40, begins to contribute $500 each month to a retirement plan will have built a nest egg of almost $350,000 at age 65 (assuming a return of 6% and not taking taxes or inflation into account). What if that individual becomes disabled at age 55 and cannot afford to continue to make contributions for the remaining 10 years until retirement? Even if the plan balance remains untouched until age 65, their retirement nest egg will be significantly smaller: Only a little more than $260,000. The difference is even more dramatic at higher contribution levels. Even a year or two of missed contributions can reduce the nest egg, especially if they occur early in one’s career.

Some insurance carriers have developed products specifically designed to provide retirement plan contributions. Known under various product names (depending on the carrier), such retirement income protection plans are not pension plans. They are Disability policies that pay, as the benefit, an amount that approximates what the disabled insured would have contributed to a 401(k), profit-sharing, or other type of retirement plan, had he or she been able to work. The idea of such policies is to provide the insured with the retirement income that would have been expected if the disability had not occurred.

The benefit is generally based on the average contribution the insured had been making to a retirement plan, up to a maximum as set by the policy (usually based on the retirement plan contribution limits set by federal law). The benefit also may include an amount for any contribution the employer normally would make. The benefit is deposited into a trust product at a financial institution. Investment decisions typically are made by the insured. At retirement age, the accumulated assets are distributed to the insured to supplement whatever is received from their original retirement plan.

Policy specifics will vary from carrier to carrier. Riders might be available that adjust the benefit amount for inflation or for income increases that would have been expected, if not for the disability. As with any disability product, the prospective insured should pay close attention to how disability is defined, for example, whether benefits eligibility is determined by the inability to work in the insured’s regular occupation, or any occupation.

The nest egg we build for retirement comes as a result of hard work and discipline. It makes sense to protect that nest egg, just as we protect other important assets, such as our lives and homes. Retirement income protection recognizes the importance of saving for retirement, and gives insureds the security of knowing they’ll be able to continue to do so, even if faced with a disability.

Have you given much thought to the decisions your family might have to make when contemplating life-sustaining medical treatment for you, in the event you are unable to make your own decision? Have you communicated how you feel about life-support systems for the terminally ill? Mostly everyone agrees it is not an easy subject to contemplate. However, it is important to recognize there are steps you can take now to help quantify your thoughts and wishes on the subject. By doing so, you will provide your loved ones with some concrete guidelines in case such decisions become necessary.

A Closer Look at a Living Will

At the present time, nearly every state has passed some form of law dealing with the requirements for living wills or health care proxies. A health care proxy allows you to designate someone to make decisions on your behalf. On the other hand, a living will usually allows you to specify the particular types of treatment you would like to have provided or withheld. Each state has its own set of requirements.

If you are unable to direct your own care, a living will is a medical directive written in advance that sets forth your preference for treatment. The document can be set up to include when the directive should begin, and who has the decision-making responsibility to withdraw or withhold treatment. In addition to respecting your wishes, the living will can help provide clarity and alleviate feelings of guilt experienced by those faced with the responsibility of making important decisions for loved ones.

Even more far-reaching is a federal law that requires all Medicare and Medicaid providers to inform patients over age 18 of their medical directive rights. You might have even received information on this topic, since the law also requires increased emphasis on community outreach and education.

The federal law, known as the Patient Self-Determination Act, impacts virtually every health maintenance organization (HMO), hospital, and nursing home nationwide. It is important to recognize that the law doesn’t mandate that health care providers require their patients to have a living will. Instead, it necessitates health care providers to supply written information about a patient’s rights to make decisions about medical treatment, including the right to make an advanced determination about life-sustaining medical treatment, and to record whether the patient has done so.

At this time, it appears most of these organizations have realized this question can most appropriately be handled when a patient is admitted. Consequently, the next time you are admitted to a hospital, even for a very minor procedure, don’t be surprised if you are given information about these rights and are asked to fill out a form that asks whether you have a living will.

The living will is a legal document and each state has its own specific requirements. It is best to consult with a qualified legal professional when creating a living will. The professional assistance will ensure you understand what a living will can provide and what has to be done to assure its validity.