An Advance Healthcare Directive is a legally binding document that determines the specific medical care you wish to receive if you can no longer make medical decisions for yourself. 

This document appoints someone called a healthcare representative to make medical decisions on your behalf.  Your representative can use your Advance Healthcare Directive to follow your wishes for medical care if you become incapacitated and cannot make those decisions yourself.

Doctors and healthcare workers commonly request this document to understand what treatments to provide during a medical emergency or end-of-life care. 

An Advance Healthcare Directive is sometimes referred to as a Living Will because, unlike a Last Will and Testament, it only applies when you’re alive. Another alternative name you may find for a directive is Medical Power of Attorney.

An Advance Healthcare Directive is a key part of estate planning. Doctors may ask if you have one in place when you’re about to begin treatment or go for surgery.

It gives you control when you cannot speak for yourself and saves your family from making tough choices on your behalf. Decisions you can make include your preferences for:

• Life support
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Place of care
• Organ donation

When creating your Advance Healthcare Directive, you can discuss your medical decisions with your chosen representative so they can understand your choices and follow through with your instructions. 

If you have questions regarding Advance Directives or estate planning, contact a solicitor for more assistance. 

Anyone who is at least 18 years old can make an Advance Healthcare Directive. Although many older people create directives, they’re important documents for every adult.

Unexpected medical situations and emergencies can occur at any age. Therefore, all adults should take the time to create an Advance Healthcare Directive while they have the capacity to do so. Once you’re incapacitated, you cannot make one.

An Advance Healthcare Directive only takes effect when you lose the capacity to communicate your wishes for medical treatment. A person lacks the capacity to make a decision if they’re unable to achieve any of the following actions:

• Understand the information relevant to their decision
• Retain information long enough to make a voluntary choice
• Use or weigh information as part of the decision-making process
• Communicate their decision by talking, using sign language, writing, or any other means

Incapacitation can happen in different circumstances, such as if you are persistently unconscious or in a vegetative state. Incapacitation can also be caused by advanced illness or severe injuries.

An Advance Healthcare Directive is not necessarily legally binding but must be considered during the decision-making process under the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015. 

This legislation provides a framework for supported decision-making, including people's ability to make legal agreements on how they want to be supported in their personal welfare. However, for refusal of treatment in your Advance Healthcare Directive to be effective, the following must be true:

1. You must lack the capacity to consent to treatment
2. Your refusal of treatment is clearly identified in a directive
3. The circumstance for refusing treatment is clearly identified in your directive

Additionally, for your Advance Healthcare Directive to be valid, the document must:

• Be made by someone 18 years of age or older with capacity
• Be in writing
• Contain your date of birth
• Be signed by you and your healthcare representative, if you have appointed one
• Have two witnesses present during the signing

If your directive doesn’t apply to your circumstances, it may not be used for your medical situation. Additionally, if your directive includes anything illegal (e.g., a request for assisted suicide), it cannot be carried out by your representative or medical personnel.

LawDepot’s questionnaire will only prompt you to include the necessary details to create a valid Advance Healthcare Directive in Ireland.

LawDepot’s customisable Advance Healthcare Directive template allows you to make a directive for Ireland. Easily complete your document by following the steps below:

1. Choose who will see your document

First, determine who you will show your directive to. This can be your family, general practitioner (GP), nurse, carer, or others needing your document.

2. Include your information

Your document needs to include all your details, including information that needs to be valid. This includes:

1. Gender
2. Full name
3. Date of birth
4. Address
5. Contact details

You’ll also need to include an emergency contact with their details and how they’re related to you.

3. Outline your medical information

Next, include all your necessary medical history and information. This consists of the following:

• Allergies
• Existing medical conditions
• Ongoing medical conditions
• Recent hospital visits
• Your GP or treating doctor’s details

If applicable, you should add details about any current health insurance in your document.

4. If desired, name a representative

If you wish to name a healthcare representative, provide their full name, relationship, and contact details. You should also name an alternate representative in case your first choice cannot fulfil their duties.

Once you name your representative, specify the health care decisions they can make on your behalf. This can be:

• Advising and interpreting your wishes for treatment as you state in your directive
• Ensuring wishes are carried out as you outline your directive
• Providing consent to or refuse medical treatment on your behalf up to and including life-sustaining treatment according to your directive

5. Add your treatment wishes

To help your representative and health care professionals, add all the details of what treatment you do or do not want. You can also document any friends or family you want present during conversations with your medical team. 

Outline the following wishes you have for:

• Life-sustaining treatment
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Specific treatment preferences
• Places of care (e.g., hospice, nursing home, or hospital) 
• Additional wishes (e.g., religious beliefs or rituals, specific requests for your final days)

You can also include any organ donations you may want to leave if you pass away.

A healthcare representative must be someone you know and trust to act on your behalf. They must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind.

People who cannot be your representative include:

• Someone who has been convicted of an offence against your or your child
• Someone who owns, works in, or is a registered provider of a designated centre or mental health facility where you live (unless they are your relative)
• Provide paid personal care or healthcare services to you (unless they are your relative or their primary carer)

The role should be discussed with whoever you choose to be your representative to ensure they are up for fulfilling your medical decisions on your behalf. 

If they need to make decisions for you, they must record anything done with your Advance Healthcare Directive. They will then need to show this to you when you regain capacity, and the Decision Support Service may also request it.

Yes, two witnesses must be present when you sign your Advance Healthcare Directive. Witnesses must be 18 years of age or older and of sound mind. In Ireland, at least one witness cannot be a family member. 

Additionally, your healthcare representative cannot be a witness to the document, as they must also sign to acknowledge their role.

Yes, you can change or revoke your Advance Healthcare Directive as long as you have the capacity to do so. You may wish to change your directive due to circumstances such as:

• Changing your mind about specific treatments
• Changes in your medical situation
• Changes in your marital status

According to the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 Section 84 Part 7, you can revoke or change your directive following the legislative requirements. You must revoke your Advance Healthcare Directive in writing. Any changes to your directive must be in writing and signed by you and your healthcare representative with two witnesses present.

You should destroy the old document, and you’ll need to give your new one to whoever had your original one (e.g., medical staff, your GP, and your representative).

If you revoke your directive, you must do so in writing and inform everyone who has it on file.