Living Wills and MOST Forms in Colorado
Medical technologies are amazing today. There are a wide range of medical interventions that doctors can undertake to prolong your life if you should be faced with an end-of-life situation. Most people have specific wishes about what types of life-saving measures they want doctors to perform – or avoid – but unless these wishes are in writing, your loved ones will have to make these difficult decisions on your behalf.
A living will is a legal document that allows you to state, in writing, your end-of-life medical care wishes if you are not able to communicate with family members or your doctor. These directives include:
- Resuscitation
- Medications
- Life support
Because there are many different steps to creating a living will (getting the appropriate form, appointing an agent to carry out your wishes outlined in your living will, how/where to record and keep the will, choosing end-of-life treatment, protections for third parties, organ donation options, etc.) it is advisable to contact a living will attorney to help you draft your living will.
Importance of Completing a MOST Form
Colorado has a version of the Physician Orders for Life Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form to give your health care professionals access to your specific medical treatment wishes even if they do not have access to your living will. This form is called the Colorado Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (MOST) form and is especially helpful when you are being transferred to different health care facilities. The Colorado MOST form includes specific directives for:
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
- Medical interventions: full treatment, selective treatment or comfort-focused treatment
- Artificially administered nutrition: feeding tubes
- Antibiotics
The MOST form must be signed by your physician or medical professional to make it legally binding.
The Denver living will attorneys at Brown Law Firm LLC can help explain exactly how living wills work, guide you in determining your wishes and draft a living will for you. Contact us today: call (303) 339-3750 or send us a message online.