WILLS AND ESTATES

Advance Health Care Directives

An Advance Health Care Directive is a legal document that allows a person to write down instructions for their medical care for a future time when they have lost the competence to make or communicate their own health care decisions. This document also allows a person to appoint a Substitute Decision Maker who can make health care decisions on behalf of that person, as well as to communicate with medical professionals.

The requirements for creating a legally valid Advance Health Care Directive can be found in the Newfoundland and Labrador Advance Health Care Directives Act.

A valid Advance Health Care Directive may only be created by a person 16 years of age or older who is competent to make their own health care decisions at the time the document is created. The Advance Health Care Directive must be in writing, signed by the person making the document, and also signed by 2 independent witnesses. An independent witness is someone other than the person appointed as Substitute Decision Maker or that person’s spouse.

If the person making the Advance Health Care Directive is unable to sign it themselves, they may make a mark other than their signature as a substitute, as long as this is done in the presence of 2 independent witnesses. The person making the document may also direct another person to sign the Advance Health Care Directive for them, as long as the person signing is not the Substitute Decision Maker or that person’s spouse. The signature occurs in the presence of the person making the Advance Health Care Directive and 2 independent witnesses, and the 2 independent witnesses attest to witnessing the signature.

Also note that the person appointed as Substitute Decision Maker must accept that responsibility in writing. The Substitute Decision Maker must also be 19 years of age or older.

Advance Health Care Directives

Wills and Estates