living will
(LIH-ving wil)
A type of advance directive that states the specific types of medical care that a person wishes to receive if that person is no longer able to make medical decisions because of a terminal illness or being permanently unconscious. A living will usually has instructions about whether to use certain treatments to help keep a person alive, such as the use of dialysis (kidney) machines, breathing tubes, feeding tubes, and CPR. In the United States, the laws for living wills may be different for each state, and not every state may allow them.