What is an Advance Care Directive?
An Advance Care Directive is a legal document that specifies your personal wishes relating to your medical care and welfare and allows you to appoint a Substitute Decision-Maker on your behalf.
More specifically, an Advance Care Directive allows people over the age of 18 years to:
- record their wishes, preferences and directions in relation to their future health care, end of life, accommodation and personal matters; and/or
- appoint one or more persons called ‘Substitute Decision-Makers’ to make decisions concerning those issues on their behalf if at a future time they are unable to do so themselves.
An Advance Care Directive also enables a person to make “binding refusals of health care” in particular circumstances. For example, if in the future you are in a permanent coma from which you will not recover, the Advance Care Directive enables you to refuse particular types of health care such as being artificially sustained on a life support system where you would otherwise not survive.
Should you appoint Substitute Decision-Makers?
Most people choose to use their Advance Care Directive to appoint one or more Subsitute Decision-Makers. However, unlike an Enduring Power of Attorney or a Will, the appointment of another person is not compulsory when making an Advance Care Directive. It is possible to merely record your wishes on the form without appointing a Substitute Decision-Maker.
When does the Advance Care Directive operate?
An Advance Care Directive only becomes operative if you are no longer able to make your own decisions concerning your health care, medical matters, living arrangements and other lifestyle decisions.
The Advance Care Directive does not deal with decisions concerning your finances or legal matters. Those matters should be dealt with under an Enduring Power of Attorney.
Since 2014, Advance Care Directives have taken the place of the older forms of document which used to apply to medical decision making, such as Enduring Powers of Guardianship and Medical Powers of Attorney.
Advance Care Directives provide you with peace of mind knowing your family are aware of your wishes for your future care.
