Advance Directive & Living Will
An advance directive — sometimes called a living will — puts your wishes about life-sustaining treatment in writing, so the hospital has a document to follow and your family is not forced to guess at the hardest moment.
What a Wisconsin advance directive covers
An advance directive under Wisconsin's Chapter 154 addresses a narrow but important question: if you have a terminal condition, or are in a persistent vegetative state, do you want life-sustaining procedures — mechanical ventilation, feeding tubes, hydration — continued or withheld?
The statute requires the document to be signed with two witnesses who are not related to you by blood or marriage, not entitled to any portion of your estate, and not your healthcare provider or an employee of your healthcare provider. Rebecca handles execution in her office with qualified witnesses.
Advance directive vs healthcare POA — how they work together
The healthcare POA (Ch. 155) names the person who makes decisions. The advance directive (Ch. 154) describes what you want those decisions to be in a specific category of cases — terminal illness or persistent vegetative state. Most Wisconsin clients sign both. The POA gives broad authority to an agent; the advance directive gives that agent — and any treating physician — specific written guidance in the scenarios the statute covers.
If you want broader end-of-life instructions than Ch. 154 addresses, Rebecca builds them into the healthcare POA document itself, which can include any guidance you want to leave for your agent.
The conversation behind the document
Signing an advance directive is not hard. Thinking through what you want is. Rebecca walks clients through the realistic scenarios: ICU care after a serious accident, a late-stage dementia diagnosis, a stroke leaving you unable to communicate, end-stage renal failure. In each, what would you want your care team to prioritize? What would you want them to stop?
There are no wrong answers — some clients want every intervention pursued to the last possible day; others want a clearer path to comfort care. The goal is to write down an answer while you are well enough to give one.
What the directive does not do
An advance directive does not authorize anyone to make routine medical decisions for you — that is the healthcare POA's job. It does not make you a DNR patient automatically; Wisconsin's out-of-hospital DNR order (under Ch. 154 subch. II) is a separate document typically signed with a physician. And it does not address non-medical end-of-life matters like funeral planning or burial preferences — those can go in a separate statement or in the will itself.
Frequently asked
Common questions about advance directive
- Does Wisconsin recognize a "living will" signed in another state?
- Generally yes, under § 154.27, Wisconsin gives effect to an advance directive validly executed in another state. If you recently moved to Wisconsin with an advance directive in hand, Rebecca will review it and often recommends re-executing a Wisconsin form for cleaner hospital processing — but the old document is not legally void.
- Who should I give a copy to?
- Your healthcare agent, your primary care physician, and any specialist treating you for a chronic condition. Some Wisconsin hospitals allow advance directives to be uploaded into your medical record. Rebecca provides clients with a laminated wallet card noting where the original is stored and who to contact.
- Can I change my advance directive later?
- Yes, at any time while you have capacity — by signing a new one, by written revocation, or by a clear oral revocation in the presence of two witnesses (§ 154.05). Rebecca recommends a fresh signing with new witnesses rather than marking up the old document.
- Does the hospital have to follow my advance directive?
- In almost all cases, yes. Individual healthcare providers may object on moral or religious grounds and may transfer you to another provider under § 154.07, but they cannot simply override a valid directive. Rebecca drafts directives that are clear, execution-compliant, and unlikely to face refusal in a Wisconsin hospital setting.
- Should I also have a POLST or DNR?
- Possibly, depending on your health status. POLST (Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment) and out-of-hospital DNR orders are physician-signed medical orders, distinct from advance directives. They are used when illness has progressed to the point that a written physician order is appropriate. Rebecca raises this with older clients and those managing serious illness, and refers to the treating physician for execution.
Talk with Rebecca
Tell Rebecca a little about your situation. She will be in touch — usually within one business day.