Living Will
Determine Your Final Path Yourself
Proper advance care planning is more important than ever! Everyone, regardless of age, should address these topics early and formulate their personal will for emergencies.
With a living will, you give instructions to treating doctors, caregivers, guardians, or healthcare proxies on how your medical treatment should proceed if you can no longer give direct instructions yourself.
To uphold the need for self-determination, the legislator legally regulated living wills effective from 1st September 2009. This legal basis now ensures that your wishes are implemented.
In a living will, individuals can specify how they want to be medically treated at the end of their lives. They must be as specific as possible: simply stating that “no life-sustaining measures” are desired is not enough, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled in 2016. These provisions are only binding if specific medical measures are mentioned or diseases and treatment situations are clearly described, according to the Karlsruhe judges.
Living wills completed before 2016 carry the latent risk of being invalid.
Prevent others from deciding for you. Determine your final path yourself and relieve the burden on those who would have to make decisions on your behalf.