Living Wills

What is a Living Will?

A legal document which enables you to set out in advance what medical treatment you would or would not wish to receive, if you are ever in a position not to be able to make that decision at the time.

They are sometimes called Advance Directives.

Living Wills cannot be used to appoint other people to make those decisions on your behalf. If you wish to do that, then you will need to make a Lasting Power of Attorney (Health & Welfare).

What must I include in my Living Will?

The wording that you put into a Living Will must show that you have thought about the possibility of being in a situation where you may need medical treatment but are unable to communicate your wishes at that time.

You must show that you have carefully considered what type of situation you may find yourself in and what type of medical treatment might be available to you.

You then need to set out what type of treatment you would be happy to receive in those circumstances and what type of treatment you would not want to receive.

Do I need to get a medical opinion?

As with making Wills, Lasting Powers of Attorney and other legal documents, you must be mentally capable of understanding what you are doing for the document to be valid. However, you do not have to involve a medical practitioner in the process of making a Living Will.

We would always recommend that you inform your GP that you have made a Living Will. One way of doing this would be for you to ask if he or she would be happy to act as your witness when you sign the document. They do not need to do this though, for the document to be valid.

We would also recommend that you provide a copy of your Living Will for your GP to keep with your medical notes as well as inform all those closest to you that you have made one.

How do you make a Living Will?

As with a lot of legal documents, you can make a Living Will yourself but, to ensure that it is made correctly and will therefore be valid, we advise that you should instruct a solicitor who will talk through the process with you.

At Onions & Davies, we have many years’ experience of making Living Wills and the type of wording that will be accepted when the time comes for them to be used. We would be happy to help you.