Chester County attorneys specializing in estates and trusts have seen much greater interest in end-of-life issues since the Terri Schiavo case stormed once again onto the nation's front pages several weeks ago.

Joseph Bellinghieri, a partner with the West Chester law office of MacElree Harvey, worked with six clients on these issues in the two weeks following the Schiavo case alone.

Before Schiavo, "my clients didn't want to talk about this," Bellinghieri said. "Now they want everything spelled out in detail. They want to talk about their choices, and they want to know what those choices mean."

Michael McBratnie, a law partner in the Exton office of Fox Rothschild, has taken several new calls from clients since the Schiavo story broke, each of them asking if a living will or advanced health care directive had been part of the estate and trust planning they recently completed with him.

"The issue now comes up for debate and discussion, whereas before it was more of an after-thought," said McBratnie. "On average, I meet with one new client every day. Now, our discussion about this is much more in depth."

In McBratnie's opinion, the "good that has come from the Terri Schiavo case is that it has brought these end-of-life issues to the forefront."

Clients of Kevin Holleran, a partner in the West Chester law firm of Gawthrop Greenwood whose practice is limited to estate and trust planning and administration, now ask increasingly about their options.

"The Schiavo case illuminated why planning and a written directive are so important. If you feel strongly about these issues, you can't afford not to spell out your wishes in writing," Holleran asserted.

Unlike other attorneys surveyed for this story, attorney Janet Colliton of West Goshen, whose specialty is elder law, has not seen a surge in interest.

"My clients deal with these issues and what they want up-front," said Colliton, who also writes a weekly column for the Daily Local News. "We spend a lot of time at our first meeting talking about it. By the time they leave here, they know what they want."

In Pennsylvania, the loose term of "living will" really has two components, according to Bellinghieri of MacElree Harvey. They are the durable power of attorney for health care and the advanced health care declaration .

The durable power of attorney for health care is a document that allows you to name another person to make certain medical decisions for you if you can't make them for yourself.

Usually, pointed out McBratnie of Fox Rothschild, this person is one's spouse, or, in the case of the elderly, the client's child or children.

The advanced health care declaration (sometimes called a directive) is a document stating that, in the event that you're terminally ill, you would like to die a natural death, not be kept alive by medical treatment, heroic measures or artificial means with no chance of improving your outlook.

Usually, an attorney prepares those documents together and keeps them with estate papers. Clients should also keep a copy in case they need to give it to a physician or hospital representative. It's also a good idea to take a copy with you when you travel, or if you spend a good deal of time in another state.

Pennsylvania laws that govern these issues contain standard language that, while inelegant, is familiar to physicians, lawyers and judges alike, said Gawthrop Greenwood's Holleran. "A lot of times, people want to tailor their own directives, make them their own. I prefer the language from the statute because it's legally sound and it's familiar." In fact, that's the language that Holleran uses in his own advanced directive.

"Most people have a point of view on end-of-life issues," he added. "It usually isn't hard for people to choose. But husbands and wives can have differing opinions and this can be painful. Lots of times, couples want their directives to be the same. They don't have to be. That's one reason we want them in writing."

Colliton advises clients to make sure your health care advocate is someone "you'd literally entrust your life to."

She also urges clients to make certain that the designated advocate, under HIPAA medical information privacy guidelines, has ready access to the information he or she needs to make an informed decision.

Advanced directives provide solace and relief to grieving families when they most need it, in Holleran's view. Added McBratnie, "My experience is that most of these decisions happen in the quiet of one's home or in the hospital, not in public where the Terri Schiavo case played out. "Advanced directives take a lot of pressure off your spouse and your kids. Think of how difficult the decision would be if you didn't know what your loved one wants."

In the case of the severely brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, McBratnie truly believes that, had she put her wishes in writing, her parents and husband would not be locked in a bitter legal and emotional battle.

In McBranie's view, were Schiavo's written instructions in place,"Life support probably would've been terminated long ago."

This story originally appeared in The Daily Local News.