How to Write a Living Will Without a Lawyer
If you become ill and cannot speak or communicate, your living will is a record of how you should be cared for. You can also include how your estate and assets will be distributed. Many people hire a lawyer to create a will, but you can write a living will yourself.
- Research the types of wills your state will accept and what procedures you need to follow to make sure your will is valid after your passing. For example, some states do not accept holographic wills, which are wills written, signed and dated by yourself in your own handwriting. You can research this information online using an Internet search engine and various free legal websites. Some websites may have a make-your-own will template that you can use.
- Verify your name, address, birth date, Social Security number and any other personal information you can. This helps determine that the will is actually yours and no one else’s. Also, clarify that you are in good mental health when you are writing your will.
- Choose the type of medical care you wish to have. State in the living will whether or not you want to be kept alive with hospital machines like respirators. Any other methods of life support that you want or do not want should also be listed.
- Pick an executor for your will. This person carries out the instructions of your will after your death. Make sure this person is someone you can trust to follow your exact words. Have an alternate executor if something happens to your first choice.
- Decide which of your personal possessions will be distributed and to whom they will be distributed to. Be sure to include everyone's full name and the exact items you would like for each person to have.
- Decide how you will divide the rest of your assets and who will receive what percentage of those assets.
- Have three witnesses and a notary watch you sign your will. Also have them sign the will. Make sure that the witnesses are not relatives or beneficiaries.
- Store your will in a safe place where only your executor and alternate executor know where it is.