Living Wills Solicitors

What Is a Living Will?

A living Will, legally an Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT), is a legally binding document recording your decision to refuse specific treatments in specific circumstances if you later lack capacity to decide. It differs from a Health and Welfare Lasting Power of Attorney, which appoints someone else to decide on your behalf. A living Will records your own decision directly; provided it is valid and applicable to the situation, healthcare professionals are legally required to follow it.

Living Will Services We Provide

We advise on the full range of advance planning documents connected to your future healthcare and wellbeing.

Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment (ADRT)

“I don’t want to be kept alive by machines” is exactly the kind of wish an ADRT can protect. Legally binding under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, it lets you refuse specific treatments, including life-sustaining treatment, in circumstances you define in advance. To be valid where life-sustaining treatment is refused, it must be in writing, signed, witnessed, and state explicitly that it applies even if life is at risk.

Advance Statements

Not legally binding, but a clear record of your general wishes, values and preferences, such as where you would like to be treated or your religious beliefs, which healthcare professionals and family are expected to take into account.

Combining an ADRT with an LPA

An Advance Decision and a Health and Welfare LPA work best together: the LPA appoints someone to decide on your behalf, the ADRT records specific decisions you have already made.

Reviewing an Existing Living Will

An ADRT may need updating if your health, views, or the treatments referred to have changed since it was made. We review existing documents for continued validity.

How the Process Works

Preparing a living Will with Nelsons is a straightforward, sensitively handled process.

1. Initial discussion: A confidential conversation about your wishes, values and any specific treatments you want to address.
2. Understanding your options: We explain the difference between an ADRT and an advance statement, and which suits your wishes.
3. Drafting: We draft your document with precise, legally valid wording, critical where life-sustaining treatment is involved.
4. Signing and witnessing: Arranged properly under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
5. Storing and communicating: We advise on keeping the document safe, telling the right people it exists, and updating it if your wishes change.

Why Choose Nelsons for Living Will Advice

Planning for future incapacity is a deeply personal matter — here is how we approach it.

• Recognised by The Legal 500 as one of the leading Wills, Trusts and Probate teams in the East Midlands.
• Sensitive, unhurried conversations, without unnecessary legal jargon.
• Documents drafted to meet every requirement of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, reducing the risk of a challenge.
• Advice that fits alongside your wider Will and LPA planning, not in isolation.

Speak to Our Living Wills Solicitors

Call 0800 024 1976 or complete our online enquiry form.