April 22, 2005

NYU Students Prepare for Death

Most people in their 20s are focused on finishing college, getting their first jobs and figuring out where to hang out on Saturday night — certainly not something as depressing and unimagined as death.

But in the wake of the battle over Terri Schiavo’s death, some 20-somethings are preparing themselves for the unexpected.

Sarah Wulfeck, 25, a first-year graduate student in the Graduate School of Arts and Science, is among a group of students at New York University who have recently created a living will.

These documents ensure that a person’s last wishes are carried out if he or she is unable to articulate them. Living wills can be created by anyone 18 or older and are becoming increasingly popular among people under 30.

“I had to sign about 50 pages worth of decisions and ‘if this, then that’ types of statements, and it was very overwhelming,” Wulfeck said. “But overall, now that it’s completed, I feel a sense of organization. I’m not expecting to die anytime soon, but I’m glad to know that just in terms of financial burdens on my family, my death won’t be one of them.”

Schiavo’s family was divided over whether Terri, who was 26 years old when she entered into a coma, would have wanted to end her life.

Her parents and her husband fought tirelessly over whether to end her life. The parents appealed Florida’s court decision to keep her feeding tube from being reinserted and the Supreme Court declined to reconsider the controversial case last month.

“The situation wouldn’t have happened if there had been something clear and consistent in her will about her wanting to die,” said Joseph Ruta, an attorney and the president of the New York chapter of the Christian Legal Society.

Living wills can be created through Web sites like legacywriter.com for less than $20, but Richard Urda, an attorney and president of Urda Professional Corporation in South Bend, Ind., recommends that people don’t create a living will on their own.

“Given the variance in state law, I think most people would be well advised to consult an attorney to make sure that all of the issues are covered,” Urda wrote in an e-mail.

Urda’s firm charges $50 to prepare a living will and $100 to prepare a health care power of attorney, which allows a chosen person, like a spouse, to make final decisions over another’s life if he or she is unable to communicate.

Richard Boyer, an attorney at Boyer, Holzinger & Harak in Bethlehem, Pa., said that interest in living wills has increased since Schiavo’s death.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people who I explain living wills to elect to execute them,” he said. “Very few people say, ‘no.’ “

Boyer said his clients primarily aren’t 20-somethings, but he thinks it’s especially important for young people to make living wills.

“Who are the guys who are going to fall off their hang-gliders? It isn’t the 89-year-olds,” he said.

But not all younger adults are interested in creating a living will.

“It’s not something I like to think about,” said 24-year-old Ashley Harrell, a first-year GSAS student. “I do think that I’m invincible. I’m just not a practical person. I don’t plan for anything, so I wouldn’t plan for my own death.”

Some families have decided to make living wills together. GSAS student Tara Settembre and her mother have decided to create living wills this summer.

“We’re both getting living wills,” she said. “I’m open to the plug being pulled if it’s a severe case and there’s no coming back.”

Similarly, first-year GSAS student Pamela Ryckman, 30, started making her living will when her son, who is now one year old, was born.

“I think with the recent advancements in medical technology it’s increasingly important to specify your desires both for your own peace of mind and for your family,” Ryckman said. “It’s the most merciful thing you can do for your family to avoid exactly the things that happened in the Terri Schiavo case.”

Soon enough, people of all ages might be legally required to create a living will.

“There might be a state reaction to the [Terri Schiavo] case,” said Mattias Kumm, an associate law professor at NYU. “There might be a requirement for each person in a state to have a living will if they wish for their life to be terminated. But for the federal government to get involved, frankly, that would be very peculiar.”

But some, like Sarah Wulfeck, don’t think people should wait for state intervention.

“I believe that people need to be brave and get them taken care of as early as their 20s,” Wulfeck said. “Because, like it or not, people die suddenly, and it’s important to honor their wishes as best we can.”