Arizona Living Will: What It Is, Why You Need One, & What Happens Without It
By Richard Keyt and Richard C. Keyt, Arizona Estate Planning Attorneys
Richard Keyt (Rick, the father at 480-664-7478) and his son, former CPA Richard C. Keyt (Ricky at 480-664-7472), are Arizona wills, trusts and estate planning attorneys. They have 294 5-star Google reviews and 407 5-star Google, Facebook & Birdeye reviews. They want to prepare a custom estate plan for Arizona residents that protects their most valuable assets – their loved ones. Call, email, or book a free office, phone or Zoom video meeting.
Your Doctors Could Keep You Alive Against Your Wishes — Unless You Have This Document
a
What an Arizona living will is, what happens when you don't have one, and why waiting to create one may be the most dangerous decision you ever make.
What an Arizona living will is, what happens when you don't have one, and why waiting to create one may be the most dangerous decision you ever make.
You are lying unconscious in a hospital bed. A machine is breathing for you. Your heart is beating only because of medications dripping through an IV. You have no brain activity. Your family is gathered in the hallway — and they are fighting.
Your spouse wants the doctors to let you go. Your adult children cannot bear the thought of it. The doctors are caught in the middle. Because you left no instructions, they must legally err on the side of keeping you alive — no matter what you would have wanted.
This situation plays out in Arizona hospitals every single day. And in most cases, it was completely preventable.
Without a valid Arizona living will, your end-of-life medical care will be decided by doctors, hospital ethics committees, and possibly a judge — not by you, and possibly not by the people you love and trust most.
What Is an Arizona Living Will?
An Arizona living will — also called an advance directive — is a legal document in which you state your wishes regarding medical treatment in the event that you become incapacitated and cannot communicate those decisions yourself.
It answers questions such as:
- Do you want to be kept alive on a ventilator if there is no reasonable chance of recovery?
- Do you want CPR performed if your heart stops?
- Do you want artificial nutrition and hydration — a feeding tube — if you are permanently unconscious?
- Do you want aggressive pain management, even if it might shorten your life?
- Do you want to die at home rather than in a hospital, if at all possible?
Under Arizona law (Arizona Revised Statutes Section 36-3261 et seq.), a properly signed and witnessed living will is a legally binding document. Healthcare providers in Arizona are required to follow its instructions or transfer your care to a provider who will.
This Is Not Something That Only Happens to Old People
One of the most dangerous myths about living wills is that they are only for the elderly or the terminally ill. They are not.
Real-World Scenario
A healthy 34-year-old is in a catastrophic car accident on I-10. She suffers severe traumatic brain injury. She is placed on life support. She has no living will. Her parents and her fiancé disagree bitterly about what she would have wanted. Doctors are legally obligated to continue treatment. The conflict tears the family apart — and months of unwanted medical intervention follow, costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Accidents, strokes, heart attacks, and sudden illness do not discriminate by age. If you are an adult in Arizona and you do not have a living will, you are gambling with some of the most intimate decisions of your life.
What Happens Without a Living Will in Arizona
Without a living will, here is what Arizona law and medical reality require:
- Doctors must follow a default presumption in favor of life-sustaining treatment, even if there is no hope of recovery
- Your family members must attempt to reach consensus — and if they disagree, no one has clear legal authority to make the call
- The hospital may convene an ethics committee to resolve disputes, a process that is slow, impersonal, and entirely out of your family's control
- In the most contentious cases, a court may have to appoint a guardian to make decisions for you — a legal proceeding that can take weeks, cost thousands of dollars, and expose your most private affairs to public record
- You may be kept alive in a condition you would find undignified, painful, or contrary to your religious or personal beliefs
The Terri Schiavo case — which consumed national headlines for 15 years and was ultimately decided by the U.S. Supreme Court — began because Terri did not have a Living Will aka an advance directive. Terri's parents and husband fought in court for years over whether her doctors could pull the plug.
The Schiavo case involved 14 appeals and numerous legal motions, petitions, and hearings in the Florida courts; five suits in federal district court; extensive political intervention at the levels of the Florida state legislature, Governor Jeb Bush, the U.S. Congress, and President George W. Bush; and four denials of certiorari from the Supreme Court of the United States.[
Do not let that be your family's story.
A Living Will Is Also a Gift to Your Family
When a person is dying and there is no written instruction, the burden of making life-and-death decisions falls on the people who love them most — at the worst possible moment of their lives.
Asking a spouse, a child, or a parent to authorize the withdrawal of life support is devastating. It creates guilt that can last decades. Families fracture over these decisions. Relationships that survived everything else do not survive this.
A living will removes that burden entirely. It tells your loved ones: I made this decision. This is what I want. You are not responsible. You are following my instructions.
That is one of the most profound acts of love and consideration you can give to the people you care about.
What an Arizona Living Will Should Include
A valid Arizona living will should clearly address:
- Life-sustaining treatment — your instructions if you are in a terminal condition or a persistent vegetative state
- Artificial nutrition and hydration — whether you want a feeding tube if you are unable to eat on your own
- Pain management and comfort care — your wishes regarding palliative care
- Organ and tissue donation — your preferences regarding donation upon death
- Pregnancy — whether your instructions apply if you are pregnant at the time of incapacity
Arizona law also allows you to combine a living will with a healthcare power of attorney — a document that designates a specific person (called your healthcare agent) to make medical decisions on your behalf. Together, these documents form a comprehensive healthcare advance directive that leaves nothing to chance.
To be valid under Arizona law, a living will must be signed by you and witnessed by two adults. It cannot be witnessed by your healthcare provider, an employee of a healthcare institution treating you, or anyone who would benefit financially from your death.
How Much Does It Cost Not to Have One?
Consider the financial reality of what happens without an advance directive. Unwanted end-of-life care in an ICU can cost $10,000 or more per day. Months of mechanical ventilation, feeding tubes, and intensive nursing care can consume an entire estate — assets you spent a lifetime building and intended to pass to your children and grandchildren.
Medicare and private insurance do not always cover extended life-sustaining treatment, particularly when it has been determined to be futile. Your family may be left holding bills they cannot pay, for care you never wanted.
The One Excuse That Costs Everything
Most people who do not have a living will are not opposed to having one. They simply have not gotten around to it. “I'll do it eventually.” “I'm too young to worry about that.” “My family knows what I want.” “I'll do it after the holidays.”
The problem is that incapacity does not schedule an appointment. It arrives without warning — in a moment, on an ordinary Tuesday, on a highway, in a grocery store, at a restaurant. When it arrives, it is too late to sign a document.
Every day you delay creating a living will is another day you are unprotected. There is no version of this where waiting is a good idea.
What You Should Do Right Now
- Execute a valid Arizona living will that clearly states your end-of-life treatment wishes
- Pair it with a healthcare power of attorney designating a trusted person to act as your agent
- Give copies to your doctor, your healthcare agent, and close family members
- Register it with the Arizona Secretary of State's advance directive registry
- Review and update it any time your health circumstances or wishes
These documents take less time to prepare than most people think. But they provide protection that lasts the rest of your life — and gives your family the gift of clarity when they need it most.
See the Contents of Our Estate Plan
To protect your most valuable assets—your loved ones— read our article that describes the 36 documents and services you will get if you hire us to prepare your comprehensive estate plan with a revocable living trust or watch thie video about the documents and services. Our estate plan includes a Living Will.
Questions? Book a free meeting or call or email one of our Arizona estate planning attorneys. We don't charge to talk to people.
Call or email Richard Keyt, the father
Direct phone: 480-664-7478
Email: [email protected]
Call or email Richard C. Keyt, the son
Direct phone: 480-664-7472
Email: [email protected]