A living will provides specific directives about the course of treatment that is to be used only if the individual has become unable to consent or to refuse a certain treatment due to incapacity.
A living will can be very specific or very general. An example of a common statement often found in a living will is: “If I suffer an incurable, irreversible illness, disease, or condition and my attending physician determines that my condition is terminal, I direct that life-sustaining measures that serve only to prolong my dying be withheld or discontinued.” A living will can state the opposite as well such as an instruction that all life sustaining procedures be utilized.