Lexic.us

Definition of Living will

1. Noun. A document written by someone still legally capable requesting that he should be allowed to die if subsequently severely disabled or suffering terminal illness. "After he discovered he had AIDS he drew up a living will"

Definition of Living will

1. Noun. (legal) A document, made by a person when still legally fit to do so, expressing his desire to be allowed to die instead of being kept alive by artificial means, in the event of being severely disabled or suffering from a terminal illness. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Medical Definition of Living will

1. A living will is one form of advance medical directive. Advance medical directives preserve the person's right to accept or reject a course of medical treatment even after that person becomes mentally or physically incapacitated to the point of being unable to communicate those wishes. There are two basic types of advance directives: (1) a living will, in which the person outlines specific treatment guidelines that are to be followed by health care providers; (2) a health care proxy (also called a power of attorney for health-care decision-making) in which the person designates a trusted individual to make medical decisions in the event that he or she becomes too incapacitated to make such decisions. Advance directive requirements vary greatly from one jurisdiction to another and should therefore be drawn up in consultation with an attorney who is familiar with the laws of the particular jurisdiction. (this entry is based upon material from the national ms society). (12 Dec 1998)

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Living Will

Literary usage of Living will

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Judicial and Statutory Definitions of Words and Phrases by West Publishing Company (1904)
"will, where at the time of the execution of , vested would take within the terms of the the will no great-grandchildren were living, will, to the exclusion ..."

2. Sermons by Hugh Blair (1822)
"It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting ; for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. ..."

3. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1862)
"Nature presents to our intelligence, the more clearly the more we search her, the designs, ideas, and intentions of some " living will that shall endure, ..."

4. Slavery in the United States by James Kirke Paulding (1836)
"... in the presumptuous anticipation that the miseries they may inflict on the living, will be repaid by the happiness of those yet unborn. New-York, Nov. ..."

5. Select Treatises of S. Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria, in Controversy by Athanasius, John Henry Newman (1844)
"If He willed to have reason or wisdom, then is His Word and Wisdom at His will. The Son is the living will, and has all titles which denote ..."

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