Ohio’s living will declaration only applies in situations where a person is suffering from a terminal condition or has been rendered permanently unconscious. Other situations should be addressed using a healthcare power of attorney. If you have both documents, a living will takes precedence over the decisions made by someone with healthcare power of attorney.

Your living will should document your wishes when it comes to life-sustaining treatment. Treatments that are often covered include:

• When CPR should be administered
• Mechanical ventilation if you can’t breathe on your own
• Taking foods and liquids through feeding tubes
• Whether infections should be treated with antibiotics or other medications
• How long you should receive dialysis if it is needed
• End-of-life care (palliative care) choices regarding things like pain management, invasive treatments, or wanting to die at home
• Whether you would like your organs, tissue, or body to be donated

Since Ohio law only lets a living will dictate your medical care when you are dying or permanently unconscious, you must give someone healthcare power of attorney to address other medical situations when you are unable to make decisions on your own. The person who has healthcare power of attorney is sometimes known as your proxy or healthcare agent.

If you are incapacitated, a person with healthcare power of attorney can make the following choices on your behalf:

• What medical care you should receive
• The hospital or other facility where you will be treated
• The doctors and healthcare providers who will provide you with treatment
• Moving you to an assisted living facility, nursing home, or other long-term care facility
• Who will provide for your non-medical day-to-day needs, such as food and transportation

Remember, while healthcare power of attorney allows someone else to make medical decisions on your behalf, a living will still takes precedence and ensures that nobody else will need to make difficult end-of-life decisions for you.

Your living will may list people who should receive notice if a doctor has made the decision to withdraw life support. You may list more than one person, or nobody at all. When a doctor decides to stop any life-sustaining treatment, they must make reasonable efforts to contact the listed individuals using the contact information provided.

If you do not name anyone in your living will, Ohio law requires that your doctor make a reasonable effort to notify people in the following order:

• Your guardian
• Your spouse
• Your adult children
• Your parents
• Your adult siblings

For an Ohio living will declaration to be legally valid it must be signed and witnessed. Your document may be witnessed in one of two ways:

• Signing the document using a notary public to attest to your signature.
• Signing the document—or having someone sign it at your behest—in front of two adult witnesses. The witnesses can’t be related to you, your doctor, or an administrator at a facility where you are receiving care.

Completing a living will does you little good if no one knows about it and they don’t know where to find it. You should make several copies and give them to:

• Your doctor so it can be placed in your medical records
• Any hospital where you receive treatment, even if it is for minor surgical procedures
• A close family member, friend, or someone with healthcare power of attorney

You should also keep a copy with your other personal papers, such as your will and important financial documents.