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If your brain activity stops completely, if the readout on your EEG machine is a flat line and you are not revived, your body may be officially declared brain dead. While some people have experienced this flat line and recovered, either during deep anaesthesia or cardiac arrest or reported controversial near-death experiences, some people do not recover. As a matter of fact, a brain-dead individual can flat line and then proceed to a host of frightening symptoms: no response to pain, no cranial nerve reflexes, fixed pupils, and no spontaneous respiration. In this case, a human being is declared legally dead and their body is taken off of life support machines. However, there are a number of other states which have caused years of legal back and forth – just ask Michael Schiavo, husband of the late Terri.
A Georgia living will is a legal document which indicates what you would like to have happen in the event you are put on artificial life support and unable to communicate your desires. Different than a Last Will and Testament, a living will does not distribute your property, it simply outlines your wishes concerning life support if you become terminally ill and unable to communicate or are in a persistent vegetative state. Today's technology can keep people alive for years, regardless of their degree of brain functioning or amount of constant pain.
LegalZoom can help prepare a customized living will that meets every Georgia requirement. Start the process today by simply filling out our easy-to-follow online questionnaire. Get your very own living will in three easy steps.
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