The complicated, drawn-out battle that has embroiled the family of Terri Schiavo could have been avoided if she had written a living will, say legal experts in Canada.

"It's not easy to talk about, but we have to talk to our loved ones about what we want to happen in such a horrible predicament," says Canada AM's legal analyst Steven Skurka. "So there can be no doubt, you have to have a living will to make your intentions known."

A living will, also called an advanced directive or a personal directive, contains your written instructions about medical treatment in the event you lose the capacity to make decisions. It can be drawn up by any of us at any time. But few of us have them.

Brent Windwick, a partner with Edmonton law firm Field LLP, expects that will change because of the Schiavo case, perhaps with some even choosing to make specific instructions about feeding tubes.

The laws governing living wills differ from province to province, but essentially, the documents allow you to state formally their wishes about your care if you become incapacitated. You can be as specific as you like about how and when to remove life-sustaining care. But you can't ask someone to assist your suicide, since as anyone who remembers the Sue Rodriguez case knows, that remains illegal in Canada.

"The key point, from the legal enforceability of these directives, is that the instructions have to be clear and they have to be relevant," says Windwick.

A living will doesn't solve everything though. Problems can still arise when what is written in the directive is not relevant to the physical state you end up in. That's why some people choose to also designate an agent, someone they trust to make decisions about their care on their behalf.

The best option would to have both instructions listed and an agent designated.

"Caregivers or the courts would first look at your instructions, and those instructions would take priority over the wishes of the agent," Windwick explains. "If there are no appropriate instructions, they would then look to the agent for a decision."

In the Terri Schiavo case, if she had written a living will, that likely would have been the end of it. The courts would have had to side with her wishes, in spite of what her parents wanted.

With no formally-appointed legal representative and no formal instructions, that's when caregivers and the courts have to start making decisions, Windwick says.

Caregivers are first charged with finding out what the patient would have wanted. They might ask the family whether the patient ever expressed wishes about their care. Usually, the family can reach a consensus about what the patient would have wanted. Family members also usually accept the prognosis from doctors about the patient's future and make a decision about what is best collectively.

"This happens in hospitals across North America every day and no one hears about it," says Skurka. "The only reason we've heard about this case is because we have a deep rift between the husband and the parents who want to keep their daughter alive."

Windwick agrees that's what makes the Schiavo case unique.

"Normally, the family doesn't end up in mortal combat with the spouse," he says.

Schiavo, because she was only 26 when she became incapacitated, likely never gave much thought to her death. And for that reason, one of the key questions that has haunted this case is: Would she have wanted to die if she had known she would be in this condition?

The case is even further complicated. Not only is there entrenched disagreement about what Terri would have wanted, there is also disagreement over whether Schiavo will benefit from further care.

Doctors appointed by Florida courts have said Schiavo lives in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of improvement. Florida law defines a vegetative state as "the absence of voluntary action or cognitive behaviour" and "an inability to communicate or interact purposefully with the environment."

Her family says Terri doesn't meet that standard. They've released video that suggests that she responds to visitors. They have also provided testimony from doctors who have said that hope remains for Terri and that she could benefit from rehab.

Although Schiavo's husband was her next of kin, that did not automatically make him her legal representative, Windwick says. Michael Schiavo did eventually win that right when Florida courts appointed him his wife's legal guardian, leaving her parents without legal standing.

That would be enough, in most Canadian provinces, says Windwick, for the courts to back the husband's decisions.

"Under legislation in most Canadian provinces, if he is the legal guardian, he would have the decision-making authority."

But of course in the Schiavo situation, there is more at stake than the law. The case has become bogged down by politics, developing into an epic battle between right-to-die advocates and pro-life advocates.

The governor of Florida has stepped in to pass Terri's Law, which was later struck down. President George Bush cut his vacation at his ranch to sign emergency legislation specifically on the Schiavo case.

The prospect of Prime Minister Martin ever making such a move for a similar case in Canada seems highly unlikely. But the justice system works differently in the U.S., where judges are elected and where the political climate can effect a strong influence.