The Appellate Court of Illinois, in a 1992 case In Re CA, wrote:
"A living will allows a person to execute a document that expresses his desire not to be kept alive through artificial or extraordinary means if in the future he suffers a terminal condition."
Living wills would, for example, inform medical staff not to provide extraordinary life-preserving procedures on their bodies if they are at that time unable or incapable of expressing themselves and suffering from an incurable and terminal condition.
For the most part, the term living will is a misnomer, as a will does not by definition take effect until the signatory's death whereas a living will is useless after the signatory's death.
REFERENCES:
- In Re C.A. 603 NE 2d 1171, footnote at page 1179.