Comma Usage -- do I need a comma before "instead" and if so, why?
Solution 1:
Maybe if he had been given the opportunity to declare his living will, his family would have been able to honor his wishes instead of simply following our directives.
This sentence is correct. You needn’t always use a comma before “instead”.
We sometimes use “instead” as a preposition, and in that case a comma isn’t required. However, when we use “instead” as an adverb and in the beginning of the sentence, the comma is required.
Example:
I love literature. Instead, I opted for computer science.