Brad is on the roll of solicitors of England & Wales but does not hold a practising certificate and does not provide legal advice.
Updated June 2026 · England & Wales
England & Wales template
Advance decision (Living will)
This document sets out your decision to refuse life-sustaining treatment should you lose capacity in the future to make decisions about your healthcare.
Templates are provided by Net Lawman. We may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Few decisions feel more personal than choosing what medical treatment you would or would not want if you could no longer speak for yourself. A Living Will, known in law as an advance decision, is the mechanism that lets you put those choices on record now so they can be honoured later.
It is not a document about dying, and it is not a document about demanding particular treatments. It is about retaining a say over your own body when illness or injury takes your voice away. In this guide I walk through what a Living Will does, what it cannot do, how the Mental Capacity Act 2005 gives it legal force, and how it sits alongside a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare.
The aim is to give you a clear picture in plain English so you can decide whether this is something you want to put in place.
What this document is
A Living Will, or advance decision, is a written statement made while you have full mental capacity that sets out medical treatments you want to refuse in the future, should you lose the ability to make or communicate that decision yourself. It does not grant a right to life, nor does it authorise anything unlawful such as assisted dying.
What it does is protect your autonomy by recording, in advance, a clear refusal of specific interventions in specific circumstances. For the document to carry weight, it must be precise. Vague statements rarely help the clinicians who have to interpret them at a critical moment.
You need to identify the treatment you are refusing, and describe the situation in which that refusal should apply, in enough detail that a doctor reading it can be confident your wishes fit the case in front of them. A Living Will cannot be used to request particular treatments, to demand experimental procedures, or to override clinical judgement about what is medically appropriate to offer. It is a refusal tool, not a shopping list.
How to use this document
Think carefully about the treatments you want to refuse. Consider situations such as life-sustaining treatment after catastrophic brain injury, artificial ventilation, resuscitation, or feeding by tube. Your refusals should reflect your own values, not pressure from family or assumptions about what others expect. Write down your thinking before you write the document itself.
Describe the circumstances in which your refusals apply. A refusal only takes effect in the conditions you specify. A blanket refusal of all treatment is unlikely to be useful or workable. Set out the clinical situations you have in mind, for example permanent unconsciousness, advanced dementia with no prospect of recovery, or a terminal condition where recovery is not possible.
Put the document in writing with the required formalities. If your advance decision covers the refusal of life-sustaining treatment, it must be in writing, signed, witnessed, and include a clear statement that it applies even where your life is at risk. Getting these formalities right is what makes the difference between a binding document and one that can be ignored.
Tell the people who need to know. A Living Will that sits in a drawer nobody knows about is of little practical use. Give a copy to your GP, ask for it to be added to your medical records, and let close family members or a partner know it exists and where the original is kept. If you are admitted to hospital, staff need to be able to find it quickly.
Review it periodically and update as life changes. Your views may shift over time, or a new diagnosis may make you want to add or remove specific refusals. Revisit the document every few years, or after any significant health event, and replace it with a fresh version if your wishes have changed. Destroy the old copies so there is no confusion.
Template · England & Wales
Advance decision (living will) template
This document sets out your decision to refuse life-sustaining treatment should you lose capacity in the future to make decisions about your healthcare.
Templates are provided by Net Lawman. We may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Common questions
Q Is a Living Will legally binding in England and Wales?
Yes. Under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, a valid and applicable advance decision to refuse treatment is binding on the clinicians treating you. If the document genuinely covers the situation you are in, and you had capacity when you made it, healthcare staff must follow it. Failing to respect a valid advance decision can expose a clinician to civil or criminal consequences, so doctors take these documents seriously when they are clearly drafted.
Q What is the difference between a Living Will and a Lasting Power of Attorney?
A Living Will records your own refusals of specific treatments. A Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney appoints a person you trust to make decisions for you if you lose capacity. The two can work together. The Living Will deals with refusals you feel strongly about, and the LPA gives your attorney the authority to handle decisions you have not specifically addressed. Many people put both in place.
Q Can I use a Living Will to ask for specific treatments?
No. An advance decision is a refusal tool only. It cannot be used to compel doctors to provide a particular treatment, and it cannot authorise anything unlawful such as assisted dying. If you want to express preferences about the care you would prefer to receive, rather than refuse, that is usually recorded as an advance statement, which clinicians must take into account but are not legally bound by.
Q Does my Living Will need to be witnessed?
If your advance decision refuses life-sustaining treatment, it must be in writing, signed by you, and signed by a witness. It must also contain an explicit statement that your refusal applies even if your life is at risk. For refusals that do not involve life-sustaining treatment, the formalities are less strict, but putting it in writing is still strongly advisable so there is no doubt about what you intended.
Q What happens if I change my mind?
You can revoke or amend your Living Will at any time while you still have mental capacity. A revocation does not need to follow the same formalities as the original, although putting it in writing and destroying existing copies is sensible to avoid confusion. If you later make a Lasting Power of Attorney for Health and Welfare that gives your attorney authority over the same treatment decisions, this can also override your earlier advance decision.
Q Who should I give a copy to?
Your GP should hold a copy so it can be added to your medical records. It is also sensible to give copies to close family, a partner, or anyone you have appointed as an attorney under an LPA. If you have a named next of kin, make sure they know the document exists and where the original is kept. Hospital admission happens quickly, and the document needs to be findable.
Q Do unmarried partners have automatic rights to make decisions for me?
No. Contrary to common belief, there is no legal concept of common law marriage in England and Wales. An unmarried partner has no automatic right to make medical decisions on your behalf if you lose capacity. If you want your partner to have that authority, you need to appoint them formally through a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney. A Living Will sits alongside that, dealing with refusals you have decided on yourself.
Brad is on the roll of solicitors of England & Wales but does not hold a practising certificate and does not provide legal advice. LegalDocuments.co.uk is not a law firm and does not provide regulated legal advice.
This article is for general information only. It is a tool to help you find your way — not legal advice, and not a substitute for speaking to a qualified adviser about your situation.
