No. Wills and living wills have confusingly similar names, but they serve very different purposes.

A last will and testament (a “will”) is the foundation of a good estate plan. You can use a living will to provide for the distribution of your assets after your death to the beneficiaries of your choice. If you have minor children, you can name guardians for them in your will. But you cannot use a will to describe your medical choices during your lifetime.

A living will is not a will in the traditional sense. You cannot use it to describe how you would like your assets to be divided up after your death. Instead, a living will is a legal document you use to specify the types of treatments you would reject or refuse if you became incapable of expressing your wishes for health care.

A good estate plan can contain both a will and a living will. Your living will covers your health care choices, and your will describes how you want your assets to be allocated after your passing.

Yes. Minnesota law provides that an out-of-state living will is legally valid in Minnesota. However, it must substantially comply with Minnesota’s health care laws.

If you have moved to Minnesota from out of state, it may be a good time to update your estate plan (including your advance directives). When you create advance directives that are tailored to Minnesota law, you can rest easy knowing that they will not contain provisions that are unlawful in your new state of residence. You can get a Minnesota living will through FindLaw’s easy step-by-step process in about 30 minutes.

Your doctors will follow the instructions in your living will if you become unable to give informed consent about your own medical options. In other words, if you cannot speak for yourself, or cannot understand your treatment choices due to your medical condition, your doctors will look to your advance directives for instructions on your medical care. If you have appointed a health care agent or proxy, that individual will carry out the terms of your living will and make treatment decisions that are not covered by your advance directives.

Under Minnesota law, your medical staff must consult with you directly on your health care options while you are still capable of communicating your choices. So, your health care providers cannot act on the provisions in your advance directives against your objections. They will communicate with you and request your consent for all procedures while you are able to express your decisions yourself.

Yes, advance directives are binding legal documents. Your medical staff has a legal duty to follow the instructions in your advance directives, even if it means transferring you to another physician. To ensure that your medical professionals honor your wishes, you need to make sure that they are aware of your advance directives and have copies of them.

Under Minnesota law, your physician has a responsibility to tell you if they are unwilling to honor your advance directives while you are still mentally competent. It is then your choice to transfer to another physician if you choose to do so.

However, if your physician did not inform you of their unwillingness to comply with your advance directives while you were mentally competent, they have a duty to transfer you. If you become medically incapacitated, they must take reasonable steps to move you to another physician.

Not completely. A divorce does not revoke the selections in your living will. But if you named your former spouse as your health care agent or proxy, a divorce or annulment will revoke this designation. The exception to this would be if your living will or power of attorney document specifies that the designation should survive divorce or annulment.

After going through a divorce, you should think about reviewing and updating your advance directives. If your former spouse was your agent or proxy, you will probably want to name a new one. Further, you may find yourself rethinking certain unrelated health care choices due to this major life event. If you create your living will with FindLaw, you can relax knowing that updates are free of charge for a full year after purchase.

It is your right to cancel or revoke the choices in your living will at any time, regardless of your physical or mental condition. Under Minnesota law, you can revoke your living will in any manner of your choice. This could include tearing up, burning, or otherwise physically destroying all hard copies of your living will. Another option is to revoke your living will through a new writing.

A good method of revocation is to create a new living will. That way, you will create a record of your updated wishes that your loved ones and medical professionals can reference.

You can create a new living will that revokes your prior ones with FindLaw’s easy step-by-step process in about half an hour without even needing to leave the comfort of home.