AGGRESSIVE REPRESENTATION
At Chris Pritt Law, we provide quality legal services in a wide variety of practice areas. These include:
Divorce
Child Custody
Child Support
Paternity
Wills & Trusts
Adoptions
Medical Powers of Attorney
Qualified Domestic Relations Orders
Estate Disputes
Prenuptial Agreements
Durable Powers of Attorney
Property Deeds
“I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for all the care and concern you have shown me, and for working tirelessly to ensure that the law worked in our favor."
EM. G
Living Will Attorney in Charleston, WV
Services
A Living Will Makes Your Medical Wishes Legally Binding in West Virginia
If a sudden illness or accident left you unable to speak for yourself tomorrow, would your family know what kind of medical care you'd want—and wouldn't want? Most people assume the answer is yes. Most families find out the hard way that it isn't. A living will attorney puts your medical wishes into a document that doctors and hospitals across West Virginia are required to honor, so that decision never falls to a judge or to a family member left guessing.
What Does A Living Will Actually Do?
A living will is a legal document that tells your doctors which treatments you want, and which you don't, if you're ever unable to communicate—things like life support, artificial nutrition, or resuscitation. It's different from a medical power of attorney, which names a specific person to make decisions on your behalf.
Most West Virginians benefit from having both, and a living will and power of attorney can be combined into a single document under state law. A living will attorney at our firm helps you decide which structure fits your situation and drafts it to meet West Virginia's execution requirements.
What Happens Without A Living Will?
Without a living will, decisions about your care default to state law, your treating physician, and whichever family members are present and willing to make the call. In practice, that often means:
1. Doctors are legally required to provide aggressive treatment, even treatment you would have refused, because no directive says otherwise
2. Family members disagree over what you would have wanted, sometimes publicly and painfully, in a hospital hallway.
3. The Kanawha County Circuit Court may need to appoint a guardian to make medical decisions if no valid document or willing surrogate exists
Our Three Step Process
Step 1: We identify your wishes. We walk through the medical scenarios that matter most—life-prolonging treatment, artificial nutrition, pain management—so your document reflects decisions you've actually made, not boilerplate language.
Step 2: We draft and execute it correctly. West Virginia's Health Care Decisions Act requires a living will to be in writing, signed, dated, and witnessed by two adults, with the witnesses' signatures notarized. A document that skips any of these steps can be challenged or ignored when it matters most. Under W. Va. Code § 16-30-4, our firm builds every living will attorney client's document to meet these requirements from the start.
Step 3: We connect it to the rest of your plan. A living will works best alongside a medical power of attorney and the rest of your estate plan. We make sure all of your documents point in the same direction, so your family and your doctors are never working from conflicting instructions. Once your documents are signed, we recommend filing them with the state's e-Directive Registry, which makes your wishes available to treating physicians anywhere in West Virginia in an emergency, day or night.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a living will the same as a medical power of attorney?
No. A living will states your treatment preferences directly. A medical power of attorney names a person to make decisions for you. West Virginia allows you to combine both into one document.
Can I change my living will later?
Yes. You can revoke or update a living will at any time as long as you're mentally capable of doing so.
Does my living will apply outside West Virginia?
Generally yes. West Virginia recognizes living wills validly executed under another state's law, and most states offer similar reciprocity.
What if my family disagrees with my living will?
A properly executed living will is legally binding on your health care providers. Lawyers for living wills draft the document precisely so that your wishes, not a family vote, control the outcome.
Do I need a lawyer, or can I use a form online?
Generic forms don't always meet West Virginia's signing and notarization requirements, and a small error can make the document unenforceable when your family needs it most.
Why Charleston Families Choose Us
We're based in downtown Charleston, close to the West Virginia State Capitol, and we've spent years helping families across Kanawha, Putnam, and Boone counties put these documents in place before a crisis, not after one. Whether you're a retiree updating an old will, or an adult child helping a parent add a durable power of attorney alongside their medical directives, a living will lawyer near you should be someone who understands West Virginia law and takes the time to get the details right. That's the standard we hold ourselves to with every living will attorney client we take on.
Contact Chris Pritt Law
If you don't currently have a living will, or you're not sure whether your existing one meets West Virginia's requirements, our firm can review it or draft a new one.
1012 Kanawha Blvd E 5th Floor
Charleston, West Virginia, 25301
Phone: (304) 720‐4412
Email: [email protected]
OFFICE HOURS
Monday-Friday: 9:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday & Sunday: Closed
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