If you are aged 18 or over you can make an advance decision about treatment you wish to refuse in the future. This decision will take effect if you lose capacity to provide or withhold your consent to the treatment in the future.
The Mental Capacity Act states that you may withdraw an advance decision at any time when you have capacity to do so. Although this withdrawal need not be in writing it would be wise to put it in writing in order to ensure that your wishes are clear.
Your doctors/carers will need to be sure about what care and treatment you wish to refuse in order to rely upon your advance decision. In a life and death situation doctors who are not sure about whether your advance decision can be relied upon, will provide you with life sustaining treatment.
In order to take effect, your advance decision must be both valid and applicable to the treatment that is being contemplated. It will not be valid if you have created an LPA for Health and Care after your advance decision which grants a power to your Attorney/s to make decisions about that treatment.
Neither will your LPA for Health and Care be valid if you have done something that is clearly inconsistent with it after you made it or there is good reason to believe that you would not have made it if you had not contemplated the circumstances now facing you and your medical team.
Your advance decision also needs to be specific enough to ensure that there is no doubt that the treatment being considered is one that you do not wish to receive.
Hugh Jones Solicitors have experts in in this complex field who can help you with advice and drafting of an LPA for Health and Care and documenting your Advance Decision Making.
Contact any member of our Private Client team or info@hughjonessolicitors.co.uk or call us on 0161 871 3682 for a free initial chat.
Many people often choose to make an LPA for Financial Decisions at the same time as an LPA for Health and Care, our experienced and friendly Private Client team are happy to help.
