What MC is saying is that you should have a living will which documents those end-of-life decisions. That's great that you have it in your last will & testament but that doesn't kick in UNTIL you are dead. It has no bearing on what happens to you when you are alive. No doctor is going to ask to see your will if you are coding in a hospital!!!!

You might have signed a lot of things in your lawyer's office when you did your estate plan. I'm pretty sure it couldn't be in your Will. As Mysticat said, Wills typically aren't effective until after death and after being admitted to the probate court.

What you probably signed was an Advance Directive for Health Care -- sometimes called a "Living Will."

These things typically describe what measures can be taken to keep you alive and/or vest the responsibility of determining what to do in another person. It would probably look something like this (although, this is an Oklahoma form):

http://www.okbar.org/public/brochure...ective2006.pdf

*The above is not legal advice.

Calm down - MC was asking a very reasonable question, for the reasons that he and Kevin explained. A lot of people think that they're signing certain documents, when in actuality those documents don't have the power they would like or prefer.

What you signed does sound a lot more like an Advanced Directive.

*Also not legal advice - just the impressions of a law student who has taken courses in trusts & estates and elder law.)*