The term "living will" can be confusing because it has nothing to do with the kind of will that distributes your property after death. A living will is entirely about your medical care while you are alive but unable to speak for yourself.
What a living will covers
A New Mexico living will can address a range of medical scenarios, including:
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Whether you want life-sustaining treatment continued if you have a terminal condition with no reasonable expectation of recovery
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Whether you want artificial nutrition and hydration, commonly called tube feeding, if you are in a persistent vegetative state
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Your preferences about CPR if your heart stops
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Whether you want to be transferred to a hospital or remain in a care facility at the end of life
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Pain management and comfort care under any circumstances
The document does not need to anticipate every possible scenario. What it needs to do is reflect your values clearly enough that your healthcare team and your agent can make decisions consistent with what you actually want.
How a living will differs from a healthcare power of attorney
A living will answers the question of what you want. A healthcare power of attorney answers the question of who decides. The two documents serve different but complementary purposes.
Your living will gives your medical team written instructions. Your healthcare agent interprets those instructions in real-time situations the document may not have anticipated. A sudden accident, an unexpected diagnosis, a treatment option that did not exist when you signed the document: these are exactly the situations where a named agent matters as much as the written instructions.
Most New Mexico estate planning attorneys recommend combining both into a single advance healthcare directive so your wishes and your chosen decision-maker are documented in one place.
When a living will takes effect
A living will does not give anyone else authority over your care while you have capacity. As long as you can understand and communicate your medical decisions, those decisions belong to you. The document activates only when your physicians determine you lack that capacity.
