Directs caregivers to focus on comfort rather than life-prolonging treatment in defined end-of-life conditions.
In short. A comfort care only election in a living will instructs caregivers to withhold life-prolonging treatment in defined end-of-life conditions and focus on pain control, hygiene, and dignity.
A comfort care only election does not refuse all medical care. It refuses the kind of care whose purpose is to prolong life when an end-of-life condition is already established. Pain management, oxygen, hygiene, and emotional support continue. Ventilators, feeding tubes, and CPR generally do not, depending on the document's specifics.
Families include a comfort care only election so caregivers and loved ones do not have to guess at the end. The instruction tells the medical team what the principal wanted before the principal was in a position where they could no longer say so, and it relieves family members of having to make the call alone.
Arizona's living will statute, ARS § 36-3261, recognizes a written living will that directs the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment under defined conditions, typically terminal illness or permanent unconsciousness. Arizona's verified living will form provides specific check-boxes for comfort care only and for other treatment elections.
Documents that include a comfort care only election typically contain language along these lines: "If I am in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious, I direct that life-sustaining treatment be withheld or withdrawn and that I receive only treatment to alleviate pain and provide comfort." Descriptive only.
The most common failure is an unsigned or unwitnessed living will. Arizona's verification requirements under ARS § 36-3261 are specific, and an unverified document can be challenged at exactly the moment it needs to be honored. A second failure is the document being unfindable in a crisis; Arizona maintains a Healthcare Directives Registry that solves this. A third pitfall is conflicting language across documents — a living will saying one thing while a POLST or HCPOA says another.
This page describes how this clause works in general terms. It is not legal advice and not a drafting template. Whether a clause like this belongs in your plan depends on your family, your assets, and your goals. Drafting is performed by partner attorneys we work with.