People have said for years that the only two things that you can count on are death and taxes. However, I’m going to argue that taxes aren’t necessarily a certainty in the same way as death. What if there is an all-out SHTF, for example, there may not be taxes, but there will certainly be death.   In this slow-burning SHTF, I’m looking around my life and fixing what I can fix. I’m preparing how I can prepare, but I’m looking at things close by AND this one certainty that I can’t avoid: I will definitely die someday. Now I know that death isn’t a very popular topic in this culture. That’s why we should talk about it now all the more! This all came to the forefront when I visited my elderly great-uncle in his new care home. Seeing his condition and his surroundings struck a chord of fear in me, a fear greater than my fear of any nuclear attack, which I probably wouldn’t survive anyhow.  I realized that, while I have an impressive array of batteries and solar-powered lights, and I have more off-grid knowledge than you can shake a stick at, I am woefully unprepared for death. I have no living will. I have no proper legal will. I have stuff that I would like the people I love to get, but right now, they may in the courts for the rest of their lives trying to get it. I saw this recently when an elderly aunt left only an improper handwritten will. This ate up thousands of her estate as it went through the courts, with her assets frozen for more than a year. Am I alone in my lack of preparations? Heck no! In fact, according to a recent 2023 survey conducted by AARP, only 1 in 3 older Americans has a living will in place.  So, although I’m in good company, I’ve realized that this is something that I need to do, for my own peace of mind, and for those of my close family members.  Why a Living Will? I saw my great uncle’s condition. He sadly didn’t recognize me, asking if I was a new employee at the home. He didn’t appear to know where he was much of the time. Sometimes he was afraid, and he was uncomfortable and in pain. I worry that the time may come soon when he is unable to make decisions for himself about his own health care. What might happen then? When I talked later in the week with my mother and sister, I let them know that I did not want any extreme measures to extend my life. My sister quite rightly said, “Well, that’s nice to know, but what you have told us will not likely carry a lot of weight, so you had better get yourself a living will.”  Now, keep in mind, everyone will have to decide for themselves in what context they would like “extreme measures” taken and in what context they do not. For myself, I want medical professionals to know that I do not want to be on life support indefinitely, should I be brain-dead. In my own life, I have sat by the bedside in the Critical Care ward, where my beloved lay fighting for his life on a ventilator with no less than 10 IV bags attached to his body, and at that time, I would have supported and did support the use of every extreme measure available! Context is everything. He was young, otherwise very healthy and the doctors said he was a fighter. Fight he did, and came back to me for another precious year of life together. What these experiences taught me is that it is important to make your wishes known.  What is a Living Will? Depending on what state you live in, these documents have different names. For example, you may be more familiar with the name “Health Care Power of Attorney.” This is the form that legally designates who is your decision maker in case you are unable to make decisions. A separate form you might have heard of is “Living Will,” which is the instructions about what treatments you wish to receive and any that you wish to refuse. There are strict legal criteria for when this comes into effect. You must be unable to communicate your wishes yourself.  In some states, these two forms are legally combined into one document, sometimes called an Advanced Directive. Are you wondering what is legal in your own state, like I was? Well, there’s a website for that, created by the AARP. Using this website, you can locate your state and download the required documents.  What Does it Cover? According to the AARP, there are a number of areas of information that you can include in your advance directive. It is up to you. If you wish to prolong your life in every case, you can ask for it. If there are certain situations in which you don’t want that, you can specify those. Questions you might ask yourself as you are preparing one include: *Do I wish for my life to be prolonged using life support if there is no hope for my survival? *Are there any treatments that I do not wish to receive to extend my life? (e.g., a ventilator) *Do I wish to give any or all of my organs? For all or just certain purposes? (e.g., to save someone’s life and/or for research) *Do I wish to die at home? Do I choose to forgo certain treatments in order to achieve this? *Are there any requirements, requests, or preferences that I have, based on my faith? (e.g., receiving the Last Rites) How Do I Make a Living Will? While you can have this done with your lawyer, it is possible to make it out yourself with some careful planning. Personally, I will be doing mine with my lawyer, just to be sure. If you choose to do it yourself, be careful to ensure that all of the signatures are completed as directed on the form. For example, certain signatures cannot be from immediate family members and your spouse, and must be from “disinterested” people who are not directly involved.   Is this the Same as a DNR? No, a living will or advance directive is not the same thing. A DNR, or do not resuscitate order, is written by a doctor. This document only covers one situation: that you go into cardiac arrest. The DNR tells all medical professionals not to attempt CPR or try to restart your heart. This is most often in place when an illness is terminal and someone is very near the end of life. As you have seen above, an Advance Directive covers many more situations in which you can make your wishes known. Make Your Wishes Known, Before You Can’t Once you are unable to communicate, a living will can make your wishes known. What are your thoughts on living wills or advance directives? Do you have any experience with these in your home state? Please tell us in the comments section. About Rowan Rowan O’Malley is a fourth-generation Irish American who loves all things green: plants (especially shamrocks), trees, herbs, and weeds! She challenges herself daily to live her best life and to be as fit, healthy, and prepared as possible. The post The One Certainty: Are You Prepared? appeared first on The Organic Prepper.