Advance decisions / ‘Living wills’

A living will (sometimes know as an ‘advance decision to refuse treatment’ (ADRT)) is a legal statement from a donor about which medical treatments they do not wish to receive. It is the responsibility of the attorney to give this document to staff involved with your care, along with the LPA.

A living will is a statement of your decisions to refuse specific types of treatment at some time in the future. It is important to let your family, carers and other health professionals know your wishes about refusing treatment if you’re unable to make or communicate those decisions yourself. By having a living will you are enabling your attorney to provide evidence official of your wishes, and the treatments you’re deciding to refuse must be specified in the living will because you might want to refuse a treatment in some situations, but not others. If this is the case, you need to be clear about all the circumstances in which you want to refuse this treatment. If you change your mind about the treatment you wish to refuse you must make a new living will as soon as possible which supersedes the old one.

You can make a living will as long as you have the mental capacity to make such decisions, including the ability to understand the repercussions of your requests. If you wish to refuse life-sustaining treatment in the future, your living will must be written down, signed and dated by you, and signed and dated by a witness.

If you wish to refuse life-sustaining/life-saving treatments in situations where you might die as a result of your refusal, you must state this clearly in your living will.

We recommend that you talk to a doctor or nurse about the kinds of treatments you might be offered in the future, and what it might mean if you choose not to have them. It’s important to note that our LR Estate Planning are not qualified to offer medical advice and will not be able to give you the necessary medical details regarding specific treatments.

If you wish to make a living will, please contact an LR Estate Planning adviser to discuss the options available to you.