To be legally binding, a Living Will must be:
- In writing
- Signed by you in the presence of a witness.
It must contain a clear statement that the treatment is not to be provided even if your life is at risk.
You can’t nominate a specific person to have authority with a Living Will, as this will invalidate it. If you want someone to have power of your healthcare decisions in future, you must make a Lasting Power of Attorney.
An Advance Decision (Living Will) lets you set out the circumstances in which you don’t want to have certain treatment, once you’ve lost mental capacity to express your own wishes. It’s legally binding and doctors and medical staff must follow your directives.
A Statement of Preferences is more general, and just allows you to talk about the type of things you do or don’t want in your care. You can include it as part of an Advance Care Plan. It isn’t legally binding, but those looking after you may take it into account when making decisions about your care.
If you want to have some control over how you’re treated if you lose the capacity to communicate your wishes, it’s a good idea to make a Living Will.
It’s especially important if you feel strongly about when you would wish stop receiving life-sustaining treatment.
If you’re also making a Power of Attorney for your healthcare, you can make a Living Will as well – however, it’s very important to seek legal advice to check the terms of each don’t invalidate the other.
Our solicitors can advise you on the best course of action when outlining your wishes for future healthcare. Call us today on 0370 1500 100.
There are some things you can’t use a Living Will for, including:
- Request a specific treatment
- Ask for your life to be ended.
Following an Advance Decision is not the same as assisted suicide, which is illegal. You can specify circumstances in which you:
- Don’t want to be given treatment
- Want life-sustaining treatment to be withdrawn.
If your medical team feel it would be in your best interests and it is clinically appropriate, both these actions are legal. But actively giving treatment that is intended to kill you is not lawful, and you can’t use a Living Will to ask for this type of action.
A Lasting Power of Attorney can cover a much broader range of issues than a Living Will. For example, it might set out decisions for:
- Where you live
- Your day to day care, including diet and dress
- Your dental or optical treatment
- Whether or not you should take part in social or leisure activities
A Living Will is specifically about treatment under certain circumstances, and as such is usually just concerned with your end of life care.
An LPA also gives authority for making decisions to named individuals. A doctor would have to consult all these people before being able to follow any treatment plan, whereas with an Advance Decision they would be able to continue according to your wishes.
Find out more about making a Power of Attorney.
Irwin Mitchell has extensive experience helping people draft Living Wills and plan all aspects of their end of life care. Since there’s no set form for a Living Will, it’s best to get legal advice to make sure your wishes will be upheld.
We can advise you on what can and cannot be included in your Living Will, to ensure that the document is valid and won’t be overturned.