If no advance directive has been prepared, someone must be appointed to take control of medical care decisions. Generally, courts tend to assign control to a family member. If no appropriate family member can be found, the court appoints a guardian or conservator, who may be a friend or a stranger, to oversee care. An advance directive can eliminate the need for the courts to get involved. In some states, the document is called a directive to doctors.
State laws vary greatly regarding living wills.
For example, in some states, only a terminally ill person can create a legally effective living will. Many people believe that extreme heroic measures and technology should be used to extend life as long as possible, regardless of the degree of medical intervention required or the quality of life that results. Others feel just as strongly that death is preferable to being perpetually dependent on medical equipment or having no hope of returning to a certain quality of life. The summoning of professionals trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation to revive a person in cardiac or respiratory arrest. Any treatment given to postpone the death of a terminally ill person who is near death.