A living will (also known as an “advance directive”) is a document that sets out your wishes regarding health care and how you want to be treated if you become seriously ill and unable to make or communicate your own choices.

A living will is helpful to your relatives and your doctors if you are seriously ill or become incapacitated. Although they are not legally binding they should be taken into account by your doctors when considering your care. As such living wills, along with powers of attorney, should be seen as part of your necessary planning arrangements when considering potential serious illness or disability.

A living will is not an instrument of euthanasia, but a request in advance to doctors not to give certain medical treatment. A living will need not block treatment; for example it can direct doctors to continue treatment until death, regardless of pain or suffering.

In conjunction with a living will you can make a "health care proxy", which gives authority to someone else to make those decisions on your behalf if you are unable to make them yourself (see the section on lasting power of attorney).

Advantages of Living Wills

Living wills support your human rights and in particular everyone’s right to reject medical treatment. Writing a living will encourages a full discussion about end of life decisions.

If your doctor is aware of your wishes, as contained in a living will, then it will help the doctor give the appropriate treatment. It also will help to take some of the pressure away from your family.

Disadvantages of Living Wills

Writing them can be somewhat of a challenge as it is difficult sometimes to adequately express your wishes, or then translate the words of the living will into actual medical action.

The biggest problem is that you never know when they might be needed. Unless you have your living will on you at all times it is quite possible that your wishes will be inadvertently ignored. You must therefore ensure that your doctor is aware of your wishes, as should your close family.

When is the best time to write one?

If you are in good health you might well find it hard to imagine the whole range of situations that might befall you. Therefore it may be more effective for a living will to be compiled in the early stages of a disease or disability, as you will then know more about the prognosis and the likely future situations you might find yourselves in.

What can be included in a living will?

Firstly it should deal with a number of possible medical scenarios, for example:

• Serious but treatable
• Brain damage but not terminal
• Brain damage and terminal
• Chronic and incurable
• Coma
• Vegetative state

It should also record what you would like to achieve given those medical scenarios, for example:

• Prolong life - treat everything
• Attempt to cure, but continuously review
• Treatment limited to less invasive and burdensome interventions
• Provide comfort care only

You can be more specific, along the lines of the following:

• I want a particular treatment
• I want a particular treatment tried, but stopped if there is no clear improvement
• I do not want a particular treatment
• I am undecided about a particular treatment

Lasting powers of attorney for welfare

An alternative to a living will is the lasting power of attorney for welfare. Such a document allows you to delegate to someone else specific authority to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to make or communicate such decisions.

Unlike a living will, a lasting power of Attorney for welfare gives the attorney the ability to make a wide range of health care decisions, not just those directed towards death.

Book a Free Appointment

Frettens are pleased to offer a free initial consultation for all new clients. We have always offered this service because we recognise the importance for clients of deciding whether they can work with a particular solicitor and to find out more about the process and likely outcome. Our private client lawyers offer positive, down to earth advice, and we hope that this initial meeting allows you the time to see this as well.

Contact a member of our Private Client Team to arrange a free initial appointment at either our Christchurch or New Forest office, where you will be able to meet your solicitor with no obligation or charge.