How Do I Write a Living Will? Complete Template

To write a living will in Australia, use the correct advance care directive or advance health directive process for your state or territory, describe the treatments you would accept or refuse in clearly defined medical situations, appoint or identify the appropriate medical decision-maker, discuss the choices with a clinician, and complete the required signing and witnessing steps.

A living will is used only when you cannot make or communicate the relevant healthcare decision yourself. It should not be a vague statement that you do not want to be “kept alive on machines”. It should explain what outcomes matter to you, which treatments you mean, when a refusal applies, whether a time-limited treatment trial is acceptable and what comfort-focused care you want regardless of other treatment limits.

The complete template below helps you prepare those choices in detail. It covers CPR, ventilation, intensive care, artificial nutrition and hydration, dialysis, surgery, antibiotics, blood products, dementia, severe brain injury, permanent unconsciousness, terminal illness, palliative care, cultural requirements, substitute decision-makers, copies, review and revocation.

This article and its template provide general Australian planning information. The legally operative document must satisfy the current requirements of your state or territory. Some jurisdictions prescribe a form, clinician involvement or particular witnesses. Evaheld can help you create, organise, store and share the relevant record, but unresolved medical and legal questions should be taken to qualified professionals.

The living will belongs beside your personal legacy letter, funeral wishes and digital legacy directory, but those documents do different jobs and should not be merged into one confusing record.

What the current leading living will templates cover

The current top Australian results establish the essential legal and clinical framework. Service NSW explains that an Advance Care Directive is also called a living will, that it operates when a person cannot make decisions, and that a valid directive must be followed. Its living will guidance emphasises capacity, clear and specific treatment details, and applicability to the situation.

NSW Health’s Advance Care Directive form and information booklet adds a structured form, preparation guidance and a clinical and legal framework for expressing future treatment choices. The Australian Government’s national directive guidance adds values, goals, substitute decision-makers, sharing, My Health Record, review and replacement of old versions.

Those resources are authoritative, but a person still needs help translating broad questions into precise decisions. The Evaheld template goes further by separating reversible illness from terminal or irreversible conditions, breaking “life support” into specific treatments, adding time-limited trials and stopping rules, addressing dementia and severe neurological injury, distinguishing a living will from clinical resuscitation orders, and giving the medical decision-maker clear interpretation guidance.

Living will terminology and the Australian legal framework

“Living will” is widely understood, but Australian governments commonly use Advance Care Directive, Advance Health Directive, Health Direction or Advance Personal Plan. Names, forms, witnessing and the way a substitute decision-maker is appointed differ between jurisdictions.

In NSW, a person does not need to use one prescribed form, although a signed written directive is recommended. Advance Care Planning Australia’s current NSW guidance explains the common-law approach and the separate appointment of an enduring guardian.

Queensland uses an Advance Health Directive and requires the approved process, including clinician and witness involvement. The current Queensland forms guidance distinguishes the legally binding Advance Health Directive from the non-binding Statement of Choices.

Victoria’s current Advance Care Directive forms allow instructional directives about specific treatments and values directives that guide treatment decisions. Western Australia states that a person making a new directive should use the prescribed form; its Advance Health Directive guidance covers values, medical, surgical, dental and mental health treatment, palliative care, life support and resuscitation.

The practical rule is straightforward: use the current local process. A general template can help you understand and prepare your choices, but it should not be substituted for a prescribed form where the jurisdiction requires one.

When a living will applies and when it does not

Your current decision controls while you have decision-making capacity. A living will is not permission for other people to ignore what you say today because an older document exists. It operates only when you cannot make or communicate the relevant decision and the instruction applies to the treatment and circumstances at hand.

A directive can refuse a treatment, but it does not force clinicians to provide treatment that is unavailable, unlawful, clinically inappropriate or unable to achieve its intended purpose. Write requests as preferences and treatment goals; write refusals with enough detail that clinicians can identify when they apply.

Capacity is decision-specific. A diagnosis of dementia, mental illness, neurological disease or intellectual disability does not automatically mean a person cannot make every healthcare decision. The dementia advance care planning guide explains why planning should begin early and why supported participation matters.

How to describe quality of life without using dangerous shorthand

Statements such as “no quality of life”, “no heroic measures” or “if I am a vegetable” are unclear and can be offensive or clinically unusable. Describe the abilities, relationships and experiences that matter to you instead.

You might say that recognising close family, communicating consistently, eating for pleasure, experiencing the environment, making simple choices, living without unrelieved distress or retaining some capacity for meaningful interaction matters to you. You can also state that dependence on care alone would not make life unacceptable, or that particular combinations of irreversible loss and suffering would change your treatment goals.

Values do not replace specific instructions, but they help clinicians and your medical decision-maker interpret circumstances you could not predict. Evaheld’s medical-wishes guidance can help turn values into clearer treatment questions.

Create your living will in Evaheld now, beginning with the outcomes that matter most, the person you trust to interpret them and the medical questions you need your GP or specialist to explain.

CPR, DNR and resuscitation instructions in a living will

CPR is attempted after cardiac or respiratory arrest. Its likely benefits and burdens depend heavily on the person’s health, the cause of the arrest, how quickly it is started and the setting. A directive should not assume CPR has the same outcome for a healthy person after a reversible event and a frail person with advanced irreversible disease.

You may state that you refuse CPR in defined circumstances, such as terminal illness, advanced irreversible dementia or permanent unconsciousness. You may accept CPR where the cause is likely to be rapidly reversible and there is a reasonable prospect of recovery to an outcome you consider acceptable.

A living will is not automatically the same as a current clinical resuscitation plan, DNR, DNAR or not-for-resuscitation order. Ask your clinician whether a separate local clinical order should be completed, particularly after a major diagnosis, hospital admission or move into residential care. Evaheld’s resuscitation terminology guide explains the distinction.

Ventilation, intensive care and time-limited treatment trials

Mechanical ventilation can support breathing while a reversible condition is treated, but prolonged ventilation may lead to tracheostomy, sedation, complications and extended rehabilitation. Intensive care may also involve invasive monitoring, medications to support blood pressure, dialysis or other organ support.

A useful directive can distinguish between a short trial for a potentially reversible condition and prolonged treatment when recovery is unlikely. State what goal would justify continuing the trial and what outcome or clinical finding should prompt review or withdrawal.

For example: “I accept a time-limited trial of ventilation for a reversible infection if my treating team believes I have a reasonable prospect of returning to conscious interaction. I do not want prolonged ventilation if I have permanent severe brain injury and the treating specialists agree that meaningful recovery is not reasonably expected.”

The aim is not to prescribe a fixed number of days without medical context. It is to define the purpose of the trial and the values that should govern reassessment.

Artificial nutrition, hydration, dialysis, antibiotics and surgery

Artificial nutrition and hydration may be delivered through a feeding tube or intravenous route. It may support recovery in some situations and prolong dying or cause burdens in others. State whether you accept short-term use for a reversible condition and whether you refuse long-term use in specified irreversible scenarios.

Dialysis, antibiotics and surgery also need context. Antibiotics may relieve distress from an infection even when the overall goal is comfort, while major surgery may be inconsistent with a person’s wishes in advanced irreversible illness. Blood transfusion or blood products may be unacceptable for religious or personal reasons and should be recorded clearly with clinician advice.

A directive should not attempt to list every possible treatment. It should address treatments most likely to be relevant to your health, then provide values and decision-making guidance for unanticipated situations. The advance care planning conversation script can help organise the questions to take to a clinician.

Dementia, coma, severe brain injury and brain death

Advanced dementia requires more detail than a broad refusal of treatment. Consider whether your wishes change when you no longer recognise close family, communicate consistent choices, understand your surroundings, eat safely, mobilise or experience pleasure. Distinguish an acute, treatable illness from the underlying irreversible condition.

A coma may be temporary or prolonged. Severe brain injury may have uncertain outcomes early in treatment. You may permit a time-limited trial while specialists assess recovery and refuse ongoing life-sustaining treatment if the condition is judged permanent and incompatible with the outcomes you value.

Brain death is different: it means the person has died. A living will applies to treatment decisions while you are alive but unable to decide, not after death has been determined. Use terms such as permanent unconsciousness, prolonged disorder of consciousness or severe irreversible brain injury after discussing the medical meaning with a clinician.

Comfort care, pain relief and palliative sedation

Refusing life-prolonging treatment does not mean refusing care. Record the comfort measures you want: pain and symptom relief, oxygen for comfort, mouth care, treatment of breathlessness, nausea and anxiety, skin care, positioning, familiar music, spiritual support and the presence of chosen people.

You may state that comfort should be prioritised even when a treatment carries foreseeable risks, provided care remains lawful and clinically appropriate. Palliative sedation is a specialised clinical intervention for otherwise unmanageable suffering and should be discussed with experienced clinicians rather than written as a casual request.

Palliative Care Australia provides information on advance care planning and palliative care. Evaheld’s Health & Care Vault can keep the directive beside symptom preferences, medical contacts and care information.

Substitute decision-makers and family communication

A written directive cannot anticipate every clinical question. The right medical decision-maker should understand your values, be available, ask questions, tolerate disagreement and follow your wishes rather than their own. The legal title and appointment process differ by jurisdiction.

Tell the person why you chose them and ask whether they can carry out your instructions. Give them the current directive and ask them to explain your wishes back to you. Name a backup where the local process allows it.

Evaheld’s medical decision-maker guide provides a practical assessment, while the appointment and preparation guidance explains the information the person needs.

Complete living will and advance care directive preparation template

This template helps you prepare the content of a living will. Complete the current jurisdiction-specific document and execution process for legal use. Every grey box below is a working field. Replace the guidance with your own words, take unresolved clinical questions to your treating team, and do not sign a final directive until you understand the likely effects of your instructions.

Section 1: Personal details and jurisdiction

1.1 What are your identifying details?

Write over this guidance: Add your full legal name, preferred name, date of birth, address, phone, Medicare or hospital identifier where appropriate, and the date the document is prepared.

1.2 Which state or territory law and form apply?

Write over this guidance: Record your jurisdiction, the official form or process used, version date and any clinician, witness or interpreter requirements.

1.3 Which previous directives exist?

Write over this guidance: List earlier versions, their dates and locations. State clearly that the new valid directive replaces them once properly completed.

Section 2: Capacity, voluntariness and support

2.1 Are you making these choices freely and with decision-making capacity?

Write over this guidance: Confirm that you understand the nature and effect of the instructions and are not being pressured. Record any clinician assessment required by the local form.

2.2 What communication support did you use?

Write over this guidance: Record interpreter, translator, communication device, hearing support, accessible format, supported decision-making assistance or person who wrote at your direction.

Section 3: Medical decision-maker

3.1 Who should make medical decisions if you cannot?

Write over this guidance: Add the legally appointed person’s name, relationship, phone, email, location and formal appointment document.

3.2 Who is the backup decision-maker?

Write over this guidance: Name the alternate and state when they should act. Confirm that both people understand and accept the role.

3.3 What guidance should they follow when the directive does not cover the exact situation?

Write over this guidance: Direct them to apply your values, ask clinicians about likely outcomes and burdens, seek a second opinion where appropriate, and represent your choices rather than their personal preferences.

Section 4: What makes life meaningful

4.1 Which relationships, abilities and experiences matter most?

Write over this guidance: Describe communication, recognition, decision-making, mobility, eating, independence, faith, family contact, music, nature, work, creativity or other sources of meaning.

4.2 Which losses would be difficult but still acceptable?

Write over this guidance: Explain whether dependence, disability, communication support or residential care would still allow a life you would value. Avoid equating disability with lack of dignity.

4.3 Which combination of irreversible outcomes would change your treatment goals?

Write over this guidance: Describe the specific combination of permanent losses, suffering or inability to interact that would make comfort-focused care preferable to further life-prolonging treatment.

Section 5: Current health and foreseeable scenarios

5.1 What current conditions should inform the directive?

Write over this guidance: List diagnoses, stage, likely progression, recent admissions, allergies, current treatment and treating clinicians. Attach a dated health summary rather than rewriting complex clinical records.

5.2 Which future scenarios have clinicians discussed with you?

Write over this guidance: Record foreseeable events such as respiratory failure, stroke, advanced dementia, loss of swallowing, kidney failure, recurrent infection or terminal progression.

Section 6: When the directive should apply

6.1 What incapacity trigger applies?

Write over this guidance: State that the directive is used only when you cannot make or communicate the relevant decision, as determined under the applicable law and clinical process.

6.2 Which instructions apply only to terminal or irreversible conditions?

Write over this guidance: Link each refusal to the condition, prognosis and level of certainty required. Avoid one blanket instruction for every temporary illness.

Section 7: Overall treatment goals

7.1 What is your goal during a reversible illness?

Write over this guidance: State whether you accept active treatment, intensive care or a time-limited trial when there is a reasonable prospect of recovery to outcomes you value.

7.2 What is your goal during terminal or irreversible decline?

Write over this guidance: State whether comfort, relief of distress, familiar surroundings and avoiding burdensome transfer should take priority over prolonging life.

Section 8: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation

8.1 In which circumstances do you accept CPR?

Write over this guidance: Define reversible situations and the recovery outcome that would justify CPR after discussion with a clinician.

8.2 In which circumstances do you refuse CPR?

Write over this guidance: Link the refusal to terminal illness, advanced irreversible disease, permanent unconsciousness or another clearly defined condition. Ask whether a separate clinical resuscitation order is needed.

Section 9: Ventilation and intensive care

9.1 Do you accept short-term mechanical ventilation?

Write over this guidance: State the reversible conditions and likely recovery goals that make a short trial acceptable.

9.2 When should ventilation or intensive care not continue?

Write over this guidance: Describe the specialist findings, irreversible outcomes or failure to meet agreed treatment goals that should prompt a review and transition to comfort-focused care.

9.3 Are tracheostomy or prolonged intensive-care support acceptable?

Write over this guidance: Record whether these are acceptable for rehabilitation, unacceptable in permanent severe neurological injury, or dependent on clinician advice and your values.

Section 10: Artificial nutrition and hydration

10.1 Do you accept short-term tube feeding or intravenous hydration?

Write over this guidance: State whether short-term support is acceptable during a reversible illness, surgery or rehabilitation.

10.2 When do you refuse long-term artificial nutrition or hydration?

Write over this guidance: Define the conditions, prognosis and outcomes that make long-term feeding tubes or artificial hydration inconsistent with your wishes.

Section 11: Dialysis, surgery, antibiotics and other treatment

11.1 When would dialysis be acceptable or refused?

Write over this guidance: Distinguish short-term dialysis for potentially reversible kidney injury from long-term dialysis during advanced irreversible disease.

11.2 When would surgery be acceptable?

Write over this guidance: State the treatment goal, expected recovery and circumstances in which major surgery would be too burdensome.

11.3 How should antibiotics be used?

Write over this guidance: Record whether antibiotics are acceptable to treat a reversible infection, relieve symptoms or should be withheld when they would only prolong dying.

11.4 Do you accept blood transfusions or blood products?

Write over this guidance: State clear consent or refusal, any acceptable alternatives, the religious or personal basis if relevant, and the clinician or adviser consulted.

Section 12: Dementia and progressive neurological disease

12.1 Which stage or functional losses should change treatment goals?

Write over this guidance: Describe recognition, communication, swallowing, mobility, distress and ability to enjoy familiar interaction rather than relying on a diagnostic label alone.

12.2 Which treatments remain acceptable during advanced dementia?

Write over this guidance: Consider symptom relief, simple reversible treatment, hospital transfer, IV antibiotics, feeding tubes and burdensome investigation separately.

Section 13: Coma and severe brain injury

13.1 Do you accept an initial treatment and assessment period?

Write over this guidance: State whether a time-limited trial is acceptable while specialists assess reversibility and prognosis.

13.2 What should happen if permanent unconsciousness or severe irreversible injury is established?

Write over this guidance: Record which life-sustaining treatments you refuse, the level of medical agreement or second opinion desired, and your comfort-care preferences.

Section 14: Terminal illness and end-stage organ failure

14.1 What should be prioritised when illness is terminal?

Write over this guidance: State whether comfort, time with family, avoiding intensive care, remaining at home or another goal should take priority.

14.2 Which hospital transfers or investigations should be avoided?

Write over this guidance: Identify burdensome transfers, tests or procedures you would decline when they cannot improve comfort or achieve a meaningful recovery goal.

Section 15: Pain relief, symptom control and palliative care

15.1 What comfort treatment do you want regardless of other refusals?

Write over this guidance: Include pain, breathlessness, nausea, agitation, anxiety, mouth care, positioning, oxygen for comfort and spiritual or emotional support.

15.2 What are your wishes regarding sedation for otherwise unmanageable suffering?

Write over this guidance: State your values and ask a palliative-care clinician to explain lawful clinical options. Do not treat this field as a prescription.

Section 16: Place of care and personal comfort

16.1 Where would you prefer to receive care?

Write over this guidance: Record home, hospital, hospice, palliative-care unit, residential care or family discretion, recognising that safety and service availability may affect the outcome.

16.2 Which people and personal comforts matter?

Write over this guidance: Name family, chosen family, friends, faith leaders, pets, music, lighting, garden access, privacy, food, touch and communication preferences.

Section 17: Cultural, religious and ethical restrictions

17.1 Which cultural or spiritual practices should be followed?

Write over this guidance: Record language, interpreter, prayer, clergy or elder, modesty, gender, food, family consultation and practices around illness and dying.

17.2 Which treatments or procedures do you refuse on religious or ethical grounds?

Write over this guidance: Name the treatment precisely, state whether alternatives are acceptable and record the clinician or adviser who helped clarify the instruction.

Section 18: Organ, tissue and body donation

18.1 What are your organ and tissue donation wishes?

Write over this guidance: Record your wishes, Australian Organ Donor Register status and family members informed. Registration and clinical eligibility remain separate from the living will.

18.2 Have you arranged body donation or research participation?

Write over this guidance: Name the program, registration status, eligibility limits, contact details and fallback arrangements. Do not assume organ donation and body donation use the same process.

DonateLife explains registration on the Australian Organ Donor Register and why family awareness matters.

Section 19: Clinician discussion, questions and supporting records

19.1 Which clinician helped you understand the choices?

Write over this guidance: Add GP, specialist, nurse practitioner or palliative-care clinician, consultation date and questions discussed.

19.2 Which questions remain unresolved?

Write over this guidance: List treatment meanings, prognosis, local legal requirements, decision-maker authority and document-access questions that need professional follow-up.

19.3 Which supporting records are attached or referenced?

Write over this guidance: List the current health summary, medicine and allergy list, decision-maker appointment, resuscitation plan, specialist letter and jurisdiction-specific form.

Section 20: Signing, copies, review and revocation

20.1 What signing and witnessing requirements apply?

Write over this guidance: Record who must sign, who may witness, whether the witness must be authorised, whether a clinician certificate is required and whether electronic signing is permitted.

20.2 Who has received the current signed version?

Write over this guidance: List your decision-maker, family, GP, specialists, hospital, ambulance service, residential-care service, My Health Record and secure Evaheld location.

20.3 When should the living will be reviewed?

Write over this guidance: Set a review date and triggers including diagnosis, hospital admission, new treatment, changed values, relocation, changed decision-maker or updated local forms.

20.4 How will you revoke or replace the directive?

Write over this guidance: Follow the local revocation process, notify everyone who holds a copy, remove superseded digital versions and mark old paper copies clearly as revoked.

Complete and share your living will in your Evaheld Legacy Vault for free. Keep the signed directive beside the values summary, medical decision-maker details and supporting health records, and replace every outdated copy when your wishes change.

Living will example with clear treatment conditions

If I cannot make or communicate the relevant decision, I accept active treatment and a time-limited period of intensive care for a condition that my treating team believes is reversible, provided there is a reasonable prospect that I will recover conscious interaction and the ability to recognise or communicate with people close to me.

I do not want CPR, prolonged mechanical ventilation, long-term artificial nutrition or dialysis if I have a terminal illness, permanent unconsciousness or severe irreversible brain injury and the treating specialists agree that I am unlikely to recover the abilities I have identified as essential to me.

If prognosis is initially uncertain, I accept a time-limited treatment trial. I want my medical decision-maker and treating team to agree on the purpose of the trial, the signs of improvement being sought and the point at which treatment will be reviewed. If the agreed goals are not met and recovery to an outcome I value is not reasonably expected, I want treatment redirected to comfort.

I want pain, breathlessness, nausea, anxiety and agitation treated actively. I want mouth care, gentle positioning, familiar music and the presence of my chosen family. Refusing life-prolonging treatment does not mean refusing comfort, nursing or palliative care.

I accept antibiotics when they are likely to relieve symptoms or treat a reversible infection. I do not want repeated hospital transfers, invasive investigations or major surgery during terminal decline when they cannot improve comfort or restore an outcome I value.

My appointed medical decision-maker is to follow these instructions and apply the values in this document to situations I could not predict. They may seek a second clinical opinion if prognosis or applicability is uncertain.

Living will mistakes that can make the document fail

Do not use an overseas template without checking Australian and local requirements. Do not use an outdated form. Do not sign before understanding the treatment choices. Do not use only vague phrases such as “no heroic measures”. Do not assume a substitute decision-maker appointment is automatically included.

Do not confuse brain death with coma or permanent unconsciousness. Do not assume a living will is the same as a current resuscitation order. Do not request that a clinician provide treatment regardless of clinical benefit. Do not hide the only copy with documents nobody can retrieve during an emergency.

Do not update the document without removing old versions. A family holding two inconsistent directives may not know which is current. Record the review date, version and distribution list every time.

Keep the signed original safely and make current copies available to your medical decision-maker, close family, GP, specialists and relevant services. The Australian Government recommends sharing copies with family, clinicians, hospitals and ambulance services and uploading the directive to My Health Record where appropriate.

Evaheld’s emergency QR access guidance explains how selected information can be available without opening an entire private vault. The family readiness checklist can help ensure that emergency contacts, medicines, allergies and document locations remain current.

Why create and keep a living will in Evaheld

A living will is not a one-time form to disappear into a drawer. Medical conditions, treatments, relationships and values change. The signed directive, values summary, medical contacts, decision-maker appointment and emergency-access information need one clear current version.

Evaheld gives you a private place to prepare the choices, store the completed jurisdiction-specific document, keep supporting health records, share with selected people and update the living record when circumstances change. Your personal messages, funeral wishes and digital legacy can remain separate, with different recipients and release timing.

Start your living will today. Complete the values, decision-maker and treatment-goal sections first, then take the CPR, ventilation, feeding and disease-specific questions to your GP or treating specialist before final signing.

Living will FAQs

Use the current advance care directive or advance health directive process for your state or territory, record clear treatment preferences for situations in which you cannot decide or communicate, discuss the choices with a clinician, and complete the required signing and witnessing steps. Evaheld’s Health & Care Vault can keep the working record and signed document together, while the Australian Government’s advance care directive guidance explains the national framework and the need to use jurisdiction-specific forms.

In Australia, “living will” is commonly used to describe written future-treatment wishes, while advance care directive or advance health directive is the formal terminology used by governments and health services. Evaheld’s living will and advance directive comparison explains the terminology, and Service NSW’s living will guidance confirms that an Advance Care Directive is also called a living will in NSW.

Validity depends on the jurisdiction, but common requirements include being an adult with decision-making capacity, acting voluntarily, giving clear and specific instructions, using the current local form where required, and satisfying signing and witnessing rules. Evaheld’s Australian directive validity guidance explains the role of local requirements, while NSW Health’s validity information sets out capacity, voluntariness, specificity, currency and applicability considerations.

You can record a clear refusal of CPR for defined circumstances, but a living will is not automatically the same as a current clinical resuscitation order. Discuss the likely outcomes with your doctor and ask whether an additional resuscitation plan or clinical order is needed. Evaheld’s life-support wishes guide explains the distinction, while the Australian Government’s directive guidance confirms that treatment refusals may be recorded for future use.

Brain death means the person has died, so the directive should instead describe treatment preferences while alive but unable to decide, such as permanent unconsciousness, a prolonged disorder of consciousness or severe irreversible brain injury. Evaheld’s medical-wishes guidance can help structure those scenarios, while NSW Health’s Advance Care Directive form and booklet supports clear instructions linked to the situation in which they should apply.

You may record consent to or refusal of specific treatments for defined future circumstances, including ventilation, artificial nutrition and hydration, dialysis and other life-sustaining treatments. The instruction must be clear enough to apply to the situation, and clinical advice is important because benefits and burdens vary. Evaheld’s advance care planning conversation script helps prepare questions, while HealthyWA’s Advance Health Directive guidance describes treatment decisions that may be included.

A lawyer is not universally required, but some jurisdictions require a doctor or nurse practitioner to complete or sign part of the form, and legal advice can be useful where validity, family conflict or complex instructions are concerns. Evaheld’s legal appointment preparation guide can help organise questions, while Queensland’s advance care planning forms guidance explains its doctor, witness and attorney signing requirements.

A valid and applicable directive must generally be followed, although disputes can arise about validity, interpretation or whether the document applies to the current situation. Clear wording, clinician discussion and early family communication reduce that risk. Evaheld’s end-of-life wishes conversation guide helps prepare relatives, while Service NSW states in its Advance Care Directive guidance that a valid directive must be followed and cannot be overridden by family or health professionals.

You can change or revoke your directive while you have the required decision-making capacity. Follow the local process, destroy or clearly mark superseded copies, and give the new version to everyone who held the old one. Evaheld’s wishes communication guidance can help manage the update, while Victoria’s advance care planning forms page provides both current directive and revocation forms.

Keep the signed original safely, give current copies to your substitute decision-maker, family, GP, specialists and relevant hospital, and upload it to My Health Record where appropriate. Make sure old versions are removed. Evaheld’s emergency QR access guidance explains controlled emergency availability, while the Australian Government’s directive guidance recommends sharing copies with family, decision-makers, clinicians, hospitals and ambulance services.

Living will next steps for protecting your healthcare choices

Confirm the current process for your state or territory. Write the values and outcomes that matter. Choose and brief the right medical decision-maker. Discuss likely treatments with a clinician. Complete every signing and witnessing requirement. Then place the current version where authorised people and treating teams can find it.

The goal is not to predict every illness. It is to leave clear treatment instructions, values and decision-making guidance so the people caring for you do not have to invent your wishes during the most difficult moment.

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How Do I Write a Living Will? Advance Care Directive Template