Are you looking for a living will lawyer in Grand Prairie, TX?
At Ellen Williamson Law, PC, we invite you to schedule a consultation with a Grand Prairie living will lawyer trusted by clients since 2013.
If you have clear views about life support and want your doctors and family to follow them, a Grand Prairie, TX living will lawyer can record those instructions in a legally valid document. Texas law calls this document a directive to physicians.
Ellen Williamson founded Ellen Williamson Law, PC in 2013 after nine years as a Texas attorney. We have prepared estate plans for 13 years, and nearly every plan includes a living will. Call our firm to discuss your directive in a consultation.
Living Will Lawyer Grand Prairie, TX
A living will lawyer prepares the written instructions that tell physicians whether you want life-sustaining treatment if you have a terminal or irreversible condition. The lawyer also coordinates those instructions with the person you name to make medical decisions. At Ellen Williamson Law, PC, we draft the directive to physicians and the related medical documents as one set.
Accidents are the third leading cause of death in Texas, behind heart disease and cancer, according to CDC state data. A serious injury can prevent a patient of any age from communicating with doctors. A living will signed in advance gives the medical staff and your family your own instructions to follow. Any competent adult in Texas can sign one, regardless of age or health.
Types of Living Will Cases We Handle in Grand Prairie
A living will works with several other documents, and most clients sign them at the same appointment. Our firm prepares each document below for adults at any stage of life. A living will attorney in Grand Prairie can also review documents you signed years ago.
- Directives to physicians. This document is the living will itself. It states whether you want treatments such as a ventilator or a feeding tube if you have a terminal or irreversible condition. The directive can also state that you want all available treatment to continue. We write it in specific terms so your physicians can apply it.
- Power of attorney. A medical power of attorney names the agent who makes health care decisions when you can’t. Your living will gives that agent your written instructions. We prepare both documents together so they do not conflict.
- HIPAA authorizations. Federal privacy law limits who can receive your medical information. A HIPAA authorization lets your agent and family members speak with your doctors. We prepare this authorization with the other medical documents.
- Do-not-resuscitate orders. A DNR order is a separate medical order that a patient or the patient’s agent signs with a physician. Your living will guides the agent who may later make that decision for you. We explain how the two documents relate.
- Guardianship. A declaration of guardian names the person you would want a court to appoint if you ever needed a guardian. You can sign it at the same appointment as your medical documents. We prepare the declaration and represent families in guardianship proceedings.
- Organ donation and disposition of remains. Some clients want to be an organ donor, and others have firm wishes about burial or cremation. A separate appointment document names the person who will carry out those wishes. We draft it to agree with your living will.
- Updates and replacements. A living will signed in another state or many years ago should go through a periodic review under current Texas law. Marriage, divorce, and a new diagnosis are common reasons to sign a new one. We prepare the replacement and a written revocation of the earlier document. We also tell you who should receive copies.
Why Choose Ellen Williamson Law, PC as my Living Will Lawyer in Grand Prairie, TX?
A Practice Run on Repeat Clients
Ellen Williamson learned her approach to client service from her grandfather. He owned a small car dealership and judged his work by whether customers returned and recommended him. Ellen founded our firm on the same standard. Flat fees support that standard, because clients can call us with questions without watching a clock.
Ellen works as a Grand Prairie, TX estate planning attorney, and she includes a living will in every estate plan unless the client declines one. She earned her law degree from SMU Dedman in 2004. She been recognized by Super Lawyers since 2024.
Teaching, Community Leadership, and Flat Fees
Ellen explains estate planning to other lawyers as well as to clients. She has appeared on the Lawyerist Podcast and on a Texas podcast for family law attorneys. She is a member of the Texas Bar College and holds leadership roles in her church and Diocese.
Our consultation is a working meeting. We ask detailed questions about your health, your family, and the treatments you would accept. You leave with a recommendation and written notes.
We use flat-fee pricing for most matters, customized to the case. Your quote arrives after the consultation and covers the documents we recommend.
What Is Important To Understand About Living Will Cases?
What Is The Living Will Case Timeline?
Preparing a living will takes a few steps, and most of the time goes to making your treatment decisions. You complete an intake worksheet first, and we then meet for the consultation. We draft the living will and the related documents after you approve the quote. You review the drafts and tell us about any changes. The signing takes place before two qualified witnesses or a notary. Your physicians and your medical agent should each receive a copy afterward. We also recommend that you keep the original where your agent can find it.
What Are Important Aspects of a Living Will Case?
A living will is a short document, but each choice in it affects real medical decisions. We ask direct questions about ventilators, feeding tubes, and comfort care, because a vague directive gives your doctors little to follow.
- A Texas living will takes effect when you can’t communicate and a physician has diagnosed a terminal or irreversible condition.
- You can use the document to request life-sustaining treatment or to decline it.
- A choice to enter hospice care should agree with the instructions in your directive.
- You can revoke or replace a living will at any time while you have capacity.
- Your medical agent should read the living will before an emergency, because the agent will be asked to apply it.
Living Wills, Medical Powers of Attorney, and What Each Document Does
- A living will states your own decisions about life-sustaining treatment.
- A medical power of attorney names the person who decides medical questions that your living will does not answer.
- A HIPAA authorization gives the people you name access to your medical information.
- A durable power of attorney covers finances and has no effect on medical care.
- A last will and testament distributes property after death and is a different document from a living will.
Each document answers a different question, so one does not replace another. Together, they form the incapacity portion of an estate plan.
What Should You Bring to Your Living Will Consultation?
The intake worksheet covers your family and your goals. A Grand Prairie, TX living will attorney will also want to see the items below.
- Bring any living will, medical power of attorney, or DNR order you have already signed.
- Bring the names and phone numbers of the people you want as your medical agent and backup agent.
- Bring the names of your primary physician and the other doctors who treat you.
- Bring your questions about specific treatments, including any religious or personal concerns.
We explain your options at the consultation and give you written notes afterward. Those notes include a flat fee quote for the recommended documents.
Dallas County Probate Court and Local Resources
A living will is not filed with the Dallas County Probate Courts or with any other court. The document goes to your doctors, your hospital, and your medical agent. Grand Prairie residents can use the resources below.
- The Texas State Law Library publishes an advance directives guide that describes each medical directive Texas recognizes.
- Parkland Health is the public hospital system for Dallas County. Its patient rights policy recognizes a patient’s right to make advance directives.
- Texas Law Help publishes an advance directives article for Texas residents. It explains the directive to physicians and describes who makes medical decisions for a patient who has no directive.
- The Texas Department of State Health Services runs the Out-of-Hospital DNR program, which covers resuscitation orders that emergency medical personnel follow.
Reach Out to Ellen Williamson Law, PC to Schedule a Consultation
Ellen Williamson Law, PC prepares living wills as part of a full estate plan or as a separate set of medical documents. Contact us to schedule a consultation with a living will lawyer in Grand Prairie. We send an intake worksheet first, so the meeting can focus on your treatment decisions. Most living will matters are billed as a flat fee, and you receive the quote before you decide to hire us.