Abstract
...I suggest that making formal, written plans based on individual preferences apart from our families is a white, middle-class approach to life planning that is at odds with how many people actually lead their lives, and may not even be the standard for that class. It discriminates against cultures and individuals who, both through necessity and choice, look to their families, now meaning close-ones, to take care of their interests when they are no longer able to do so. By failing to allow families to decide when there is no "clear and convincing evidence" of individual choices, we may deny rather than protect what many individuals would have chosen for themselves because of their relationships with their close-ones.
