Download Living Will Forms on the Web

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Robert G. Montgomery
Franklin County Recorder
373 South High Street, 18th Fl.
Columbus, Ohio  43215
(614) 462-3930
(614) 462-4299, Fax
www.co.franklin.oh.us/recorder

Date: October - November 2002

Living Wills can be very important for your family’s security and peace of mind. The Franklin County Recorder’s Office makes it easy to obtain up to date Living Will forms. Just logon to the internet at www.co.franklin.oh.us/recorder and click on the “Living Will Forms” link. You will be able to fill in your information and print your Living Wills free from the convenience of your home or office. Recorder Robert G. Montgomery has made the entire collection of the Ohio Bar Association approved “Advance Directive Forms” available to the general public via the internet. Online forms include: Choices, Do Not Resuscitate, Hospice Choice, Introduction, Living Will Declaration Notice to Declarant, Notice to Adult Executing this Document, Ohio’s Health Care Power of Attorney, Organ & Tissue Donation. These are legal forms and Recorder Montgomery recommends that you always consult your attorney for legal advice.

Experts claim that 50% of all Living Wills will not be found in the event of an emergency, mainly because the Declarant (the patient) is not competent to communicate at that time. Your Living Will has no affect unless your family can find it. A Living Will is not needed until the patient is permanently unconscious or terminally ill and unable to be aware of these circumstances.

At the Franklin County Recorder's Office you can record your Living Will for a minimal recording fee. After recording your Living Will you, your family and health care provider can access it over the internet at anytime. Within minutes after a document is filed with Recorder Montgomery’s Office it may be viewed online anywhere in the county, state or nation. With Living Wills being on file at the Recorder's Office, access can be obtained by any medical facility throughout the nation in a matter of seconds.

A Living Will is designed to give you and your family peace of mind whether you are 25 or 75 years of age. A Living Will is more important for a young adult than an older person. The professionals would encourage you to seriously consider signing a Living Will, and if you do, bear in mind that it has little affect unless the hospital facilities can find it. Therefore, they earnestly urge you to file the document with the County Recorder's Office. For more information contact the Franklin County Recorder’s Office at (614) 462-3930.