A living will in Horry County, South Carolina can also be referred to as a "healthcare directive." Whatever the name, it is a document that lays out a person's wishes with respect to their medical care, in case they become unable to make their own choices.

Making a living will can save your family a great deal of grief. There are some pretty terrible instances that a living will can help you avoid. It's not uncommon for a patient to become incapacitated, leaving the doctors with only a few options. Members of your family might disagree over what you would want, leading to an extremely painful disagreement, which could have been easily avoided if they'd simply known.

For example, some people don't want to be kept on life support if they are in a vegetative state with no considerable chance of recovery. Others, however, might prefer to be kept alive as long as humanly possible. Another person's wishes might be something in between. In any case, if the family doesn't know what their loved one's wishes are, they may have to guess, which could lead to them making a decision that the patient would never have wanted.

Even worse, individual family members might not be able to agree about what your wishes would be. Disagreements on a subject like this can cut very deep, and cause irreparable damage to family relations. If the patient's wishes are made clear beforehand, these disputes can be avoided most of the time.

How to Create A Living Will in Horry County, South Carolina

Before you begin, you should make it extremely clear to your family members what your wishes on this subject are. If it ever becomes necessary to implement a living will, the process will likely be simpler if your family already knows what to expect.

You should then actually draft the will. To be sure that it is valid, you should have the help of a Horry County, South Carolina attorney who specializes in wills.

Typically, living wills need to follow the same formalities as testamentary wills (wills that dictate how one's property is to be distributed after death).

While these requirements are not identical between individual states, there are some common similarities. For example, both testamentary and living wills normally need to be witnessed and signed by 2 people who have no direct interest in your will.

Do I Need A Horry County, South Carolina Living Will Attorney?

The help of a brilliant Horry County, South Carolina attorney is never a bad idea, even if it's not absolutely necessary. There are normally nuances in state and local law on this subject which laypersons will not be aware of, but with which an attorney will be intimately familiar.