What is the main purpose of a living will?

While the legal document commonly referred to as a “will” (otherwise known as a last will and testament) addresses the distribution of assets after one’s death, a living will has a different purpose. This legal document establishes the wishes a person has regarding their medical care in situations in which an injury, illness, or other health condition leaves them incapacitated and unable to make their own medical decisions.

Are advance directives the same as a living will?

In New Jersey, “advance directive” can refer to different kinds of legal documents that establish your wishes regarding health care decisions. A living will, also known as an instruction directive, is one such document that outlines the circumstances in which you would or would not want certain life-sustaining interventions. Another commonly used type of advance directive in NJ is a proxy directive, also known as a durable power of attorney for healthcare. Through a proxy directive, you appoint a trusted individual to make your medical decisions for you when you are unable to do so. A Marlton living wills attorney at Cohler Law can help you explore the specific advance directives that can help you plan for the future and achieve peace of mind.

Who should have a living will prepared?

Every adult could benefit from having an advance health care directive in place. Incapacitating medical emergencies can happen unexpectedly even to people who are in seemingly good health, making it worthwhile for young, healthy people to make their wishes known through a properly executed legal document. The topics addressed in living wills are even more relevant for those with known health issues, who may face additional risks or complications. A living will has nothing to do with the transfer of assets or inheritances, as a last will and testament does. Regardless of your financial situation, having an advance health care directive is valuable for ensuring your wishes regarding your medical care are carried out.

Do I need an attorney to create a living will?

Although New Jersey law allows individuals to write their own advance directives without professional legal guidance, there are a number of potential pitfalls you could face. Failing to meet requirements regarding witness signatures and notarization, for example, could lead to your living will being found invalid. Even if your will technically meets validity requirements, it could fail to express your wishes and instructions effectively due to unclear language or incomplete consideration of circumstances. Often, by the time it’s discovered that a do-it-yourself advance directive is invalid or unclear, it’s too late. The incapacitating medical emergency has already occurred, and a lack of a legal document that establishes clear, valid instructions creates stress for family members and exposes the individual to the exact situations they had worked to avoid. The topics addressed in a living will—and their consequences—are serious matters. You deserve the skilled, knowledgeable guidance of an experienced attorney who knows what questions to ask, how to clearly articulate your wishes, and how to ensure your advance directive is valid and properly executed.

Marlton Living Wills Attorney | Advance Health Care Directive Lawyer Burlington County, NJ

Cohler Law/

Marlton Living Wills Attorney

Advance Health Care Directive Lawyer in Burlington County, NJ Drafting Customized Legal Documents in Marlton, Evesham, Voorhees, Mount Laurel, Medford, and Throughout South Jersey

A living will, also known as an advance directive, allows you to plan for your future health care in the event of a medical emergency. When you’re not able to express your wishes regarding medical interventions, this legal document that you prepare in advance leads your family and your providers in the direction you would have wanted. A Marlton living wills attorney at Cohler Law can help you craft a personalized advance health care directive that expresses your wishes thoughtfully and gives them legal standing that providers must follow.

Our estate planning firm provides comprehensive support for individuals and families thinking about the future. We’re committed to developing living wills that meet every individual client’s unique needs and goals, reducing the uncertainty of life and putting you in control to the fullest extent possible. For legal guidance that provides peace of mind, contact us today.

What Is a Living Will or Advance Directive in New Jersey?

Estate planning is an area of law that focuses on the use of legal documents as tools for planning for the future. While much of estate planning focuses on managing financial inheritances, an important part of thinking about your future is considering what you would want to happen in the event of a medical emergency that leaves you incapacitated.

The legal document often called a living will focuses on this concern. In the New Jersey Statute, this document is referred to as a New Jersey Advance Health Care Directive—a far more accurate name that’s unlikely to be confused with a last will and testament, which establishes your wishes for your assets after death.

In New Jersey, advance health care directives fulfill important purposes that involve planning for your future medical interventions.

Making Your Medical Wishes Known

A medical emergency can leave you unable to communicate your wishes regarding treatment, particularly in high-stakes matters. Having a healthcare directive in place ensures that your preferences are known and, importantly, followed by your medical providers.

Perhaps you wish to spare your family from having to make difficult and high-stakes decisions on your behalf. Maybe you have strong feelings regarding life support interventions or resuscitation efforts when you’re already seriously ill or injured. Whatever the case, many people find that being able to establish their wishes in advance provides peace of mind that, if an emergency occurs, their preferences will be known and respected.

Selecting a Trusted Healthcare Representative

In incapacitating situations, you will need someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf. It’s important that these decisions are made by someone who you can trust to act in accordance with your values and beliefs. One benefit of putting a living will in place is having the opportunity to appoint a specific individual you trust as your healthcare representative.

Identifying exactly who you want to make decisions for you can provide a clear path forward for your family while also ensuring this responsibility falls to someone who will act with your values and preferences in mind.

Providing Clear End-of-Life Instructions

While thinking about the details of end-of-life care can feel overwhelming or even scary, making these choices in a calm, clear-headed moment gives you the opportunity to thoughtfully guide your care, protect your values, and potentially avoid unnecessary suffering. Being able to establish the circumstances under which you want life-sustaining measures to be withheld or withdrawn provides you some degree of control over a future that’s otherwise uncertain.

In our work as an experienced advance health care directive lawyer in Burlington County, NJ, we help our clients create living wills that prioritize what matters most to them—such as comfort care, pain relief, and quality of life.

The Benefits of Preparing a Living Will in Marlton, NJ

When you suffer a routine injury or illness that needs medical attention, you’re able to express your concerns, values, and preferences regarding medical treatments directly to your provider.

In matters that have life-and-death consequences—or any medical decisions with potentially permanent impact—it’s especially important that the medical care you receive reflects your values. Yet the very conditions that make these decisions so critical can leave you incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself.

A living will gives you a voice, even when your serious illness or injury prevents you from speaking up for yourself.

Peace of Mind

If you have ever considered circumstances under which you wouldn’t want certain medical interventions—like life support in instances with little hope of recovery or resuscitation efforts when your quality of life is likely to be poor—the idea of having no control over your medical decisions can be distressing. On the other hand, perhaps you want all possible efforts made to sustain or prolong your life, and you want to ensure no one else decides to withhold treatments that could do that.

An advance health care directive provides the greatest possible measure of control—in the form of establishing what your wishes would be in advance of any possible medical emergency—over a situation that is, generally, beyond our control. Many people attain peace of mind by knowing that their wishes will be followed and that they won’t be subjected to unnecessary suffering or inadequate medical intervention if an incapacitating event occurs.

Direction for Family Members During Times of Crisis

An incapacitating medical emergency also affects your family. Without having a living will in place, well-meaning but distressed family members may find themselves arguing over how to proceed with your care, leading to rifts between loved ones. Perhaps you have different values and preferences than certain other family members, and you want to ensure the decisions made regarding your care reflect your priorities rather than theirs.

By making healthcare decisions in advance, clearly expressing your wishes, and identifying who specifically would make such decisions on your behalf, you’re making this difficult time somewhat easier on your family. Particularly in end-of-life situations, not having to make medical decisions for you can prevent disputes among family members and spare them the added stress of making difficult choices.

Legal Clarity for Your Healthcare Providers

It’s important to know that a properly executed medical directive must be honored by medical professionals, even if they personally would make different choices than you have made if faced with a similar situation. By carefully crafting your advance health care directive to ensure its validity and thoroughness, we develop a legal document that not only reduces any uncertainty regarding your treatment decisions but also requires compliance with your wishes.

Thoughtful End-of-Life Planning

Although the end of life can be an uncomfortable topic, many of us do have some idea of what we want and don’t want in our last moments (or, depending on the circumstances, hours, days, or weeks). Often, wishes expressed in relation to end-of-life planning include being able to maintain dignity, comfort, and quality of life to the greatest extent possible.

Planning for these circumstances, particularly under the guidance of experienced and compassionate estate planning attorneys, gives you an opportunity to reflect on what matters to you. As you consider what you would want this final period of your life to look like, you have a chance to discuss your choices and preferences with your loved ones and gain insights from your medical providers to help you make informed decisions. As our attorneys guide you through the process of creating an end-of-life plan and an advance directive, we ask insightful questions and encourage you to think about your priorities. Then, we develop the legal documents that reflect your wishes.

Why You Need an Advance Health Care Directive Lawyer in Burlington County, NJ

For an advance healthcare directive to be valid, it must be properly prepared and executed. An advance health care directive that is improperly prepared, legally invalid, or too vague or unclear to meaningfully make your wishes known—and to require compliance—can end up letting you and your family down.

Retaining an experienced Marlton living wills attorney at Cohler Law ensures that your advance health care directive provides the control and peace of mind you’re looking for while satisfying all requirements for legal validity. With our lawyers guiding you through the process of developing your living will, you can feel confident that you’ve addressed every consideration, made the most informed decisions possible, and ended up with a valid legal document that serves its intended purpose without undue stress or confusion.

How Cohler Law Can Help Ensure Your Health Care Wishes Are Carried Out

Not knowing how the process of preparing an advance health care directive works or how to best make your wishes known can prevent you from moving forward—even when you recognize the peace of mind a living will provides. We know how daunting this whole process can be, which is why our firm offers comprehensive legal guidance. From the first step to the finalized legal document, we provide every client with the knowledge and materials they need to make the right decisions for their unique situation.

Why Choose Cohler Law as Your Marlton Living Wills Attorney?

The team at Cohler Law is known for our long history of providing comprehensive estate planning guidance, our commitment to personalized service, and our efforts to remove the obstacles that stand in the way of informed estate planning.

30+ Years of Experience

Since 1991, Cohler Law has served South Jersey families in planning for the future. We have extensive experience crafting living wills, durable power of attorney documents, and other forms of estate planning tools. We draw on our extensive experience in this area of law to develop the legal documents that help our clients achieve their goals.

Personalized Service

The whole point of preparing a living will is to make your wishes known. Our firm uses individual meetings to get to know each client’s unique goals, needs, concerns, and family dynamics. We equip you with the knowledge you need to make the right decisions and express your preferences.

Estate Planning Without Obstacles

So many factors can stand in the way of estate planning and developing living wills. Our firm is committed to overcoming these obstacles through comprehensive support, flexible appointment times, and insightful guidance.

Contact a Marlton Living Wills Attorney at Cohler Law Today for an Initial Consultation

When you need the peace of mind of knowing your health care wishes are skillfully represented in a valid advance health directive, professional legal guidance is essential. For help from an advance health care directive lawyer in Burlington County, NJ, contact Cohler Law online or call 856-644-1969 today.

While the legal document commonly referred to as a “will” (otherwise known as a last will and testament) addresses the distribution of assets after one’s death, a living will has a different purpose. This legal document establishes the wishes a person has regarding their medical care in situations in which an injury, illness, or other health condition leaves them incapacitated and unable to make their own medical decisions.
In New Jersey, “advance directive” can refer to different kinds of legal documents that establish your wishes regarding health care decisions. A living will, also known as an instruction directive, is one such document that outlines the circumstances in which you would or would not want certain life-sustaining interventions.
Another commonly used type of advance directive in NJ is a proxy directive, also known as a durable power of attorney for healthcare. Through a proxy directive, you appoint a trusted individual to make your medical decisions for you when you are unable to do so.
A Marlton living wills attorney at Cohler Law can help you explore the specific advance directives that can help you plan for the future and achieve peace of mind.
Every adult could benefit from having an advance health care directive in place. Incapacitating medical emergencies can happen unexpectedly even to people who are in seemingly good health, making it worthwhile for young, healthy people to make their wishes known through a properly executed legal document. The topics addressed in living wills are even more relevant for those with known health issues, who may face additional risks or complications.
A living will has nothing to do with the transfer of assets or inheritances, as a last will and testament does. Regardless of your financial situation, having an advance health care directive is valuable for ensuring your wishes regarding your medical care are carried out.
Although New Jersey law allows individuals to write their own advance directives without professional legal guidance, there are a number of potential pitfalls you could face. Failing to meet requirements regarding witness signatures and notarization, for example, could lead to your living will being found invalid. Even if your will technically meets validity requirements, it could fail to express your wishes and instructions effectively due to unclear language or incomplete consideration of circumstances.
Often, by the time it’s discovered that a do-it-yourself advance directive is invalid or unclear, it’s too late. The incapacitating medical emergency has already occurred, and a lack of a legal document that establishes clear, valid instructions creates stress for family members and exposes the individual to the exact situations they had worked to avoid.
The topics addressed in a living will—and their consequences—are serious matters. You deserve the skilled, knowledgeable guidance of an experienced attorney who knows what questions to ask, how to clearly articulate your wishes, and how to ensure your advance directive is valid and properly executed.

Meet Our Team

Abby N. Cohler

Abby N. Cohler, Attorney at Law, established her practice in 1991 and has diligently assisted clients in Marlton and throughout New Jersey in crafting meaningful and effective estate plans. These plans are designed to protect assets, preserve client wishes, and establish family legacies.

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Adam L. Cohler

In 2023, Adam transitioned to private practice, partnering with Abby N. Cohler, Esq. Together, they offer personalized and dedicated legal representation. Adam is also deeply involved in the legal community. He serves as a Trustee for the Camden County Bar Association and as the Young Lawyer Chair.

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