Wills & Probate Directory

Who owns your life and your death? The British psyche is fairly unique and contradictory in it’s attitude to the state. On the one hand it is one of the most conservative regimes in the world with big business taking precedence time and again over people lives, yet when it comes to personal freedom, there is a unique acceptance of the state as the all powerful parent and an unparalleled reliance on it to make the decisions for us. Let me put that in context. A British person visiting the doctor will typically explain the cause of her discomfort and the doctor will sit silently, hopefully listening. At the end the doctor will hand over a piece of paper and a muttered instruction. Only i f she presses hard and not always even then, will she get an explanation or even a prognosis. When probed and investigated, I have done this at some length, the answer one comes away with is disturbing. The doctor is of the impression that your medical file and your health are his property, not yours, or at least it is the state’s. Your health is taken care of by the state and is therefore a matter for the state to decide, not you. If he decides that cortisone is the current wonder treatment he won’t explain the pro’s and cons like say a lawyer might and ask for your preferences. Whether you have a quality of life, or indeed whether you get to continue living, may well be decided for you without you even being aware of the decision, or indeed it may be decided by something as simple as your postcode, but what is very unlikely is that you will be treated as an individual, or that your wishes will be taken into account even if you are able, willing and strong minded enough to take them on and stand your ground. All of this I have seen close up, but that’s not what I started out to talk to you about. What if you are unconscious or suffering loss of memory, or even suffering mild dementia? Every year thousands of people are kept alive month after month with no reasonable chance of surviving let alone ever returning to any level of existence they would have wished for given the chance to communicate it. The knowledge that many times they are fully conscious and lucid, but unable to move a muscle is truly saddening and brings back pictures of someone locked in a coffin underground, but wide awake having returned from a coma. The thoughts of someone I care about suffering this fate are simply more than I am able to comprehend. The fact is that the state won’t make a decision and the doctor won’t make a decision and no decision is a decision to continue indefinitely. Children and other guardians are generally powerless in this situation. Likewise you may fear the opposite, I.E. that you are listening as they decide to pull the plug and you hear your sisters argue over your jewellery and powerless to say “no, I want to wait a bit longer just in case”. This is why the government introduced the Living Will. A living will gives the citizen a right to elect in advance what measures can be taken by a doctor in what circumstances and any attempt to circumvent these wishes, even to administer life saving measures, would be deemed an assault on that citizen. What this new departure has done is given the option of dignity and a pain free departure to people who have taken the precaution of recording their wishes in advance. Even after diagnosis of potentially mentally incapacitating illness, it is still possible to take this step provided you can establish that you clearly understand the consequences at the time you sign the document. Elderly people who believe they are especially at risk and those with a family history of certain illnesses are the earliest adapters, but anyone could find themselves in that circumstance and I predict that many more people will elect to take this simple precaution. What are the risks to society? The law has a habit of remaining in place long after the reason for its enactment and it also has a history of misuse and naturally there is a worry that this law will lead to a massive growth in euthanasia and consequently to people being pressured by relatives into these agreements, feeling peer pressure to sign them, or ideas we have not thought of yet. There is also a concern that people who suffer depression will appear of sound mind , but use this as a way to commit suicide. The price of freedom is never simple, nor easy and with it comes responsibility, but in my belief the Living Will is something everyone should be aware of and think about carefully because if you find yourself in need if it, then you will probably have left it too late. Eamon Tait is an expert in wills and probate at the wills practice. www.willspractice.co.uk