Living Will Ireland: Advance Healthcare Directive Guide (2026)

April 1, 2026

The short answer

In Ireland, what people often call a living will is an Advance Healthcare Directive (AHD). It lets you record future healthcare wishes and treatment refusals for a time when you may no longer have capacity to make the relevant healthcare decision yourself. It does not distribute your estate after death.

A will, an Enduring Power of Attorney and an Advance Healthcare Directive solve three different problems. Confusing them can leave a gap in the plan.

What can an Advance Healthcare Directive do?

An AHD allows an adult with capacity to set out wishes about future healthcare and to specify treatment that they want to refuse in defined circumstances.

You can also appoint a designated healthcare representative (DHR). The DHR can be given authority within the directive to interpret your wishes and, where the directive allows it, to consent to or refuse treatment on your behalf when you lack capacity for that decision.

Are your treatment wishes legally binding?

The distinction between a request and a refusal matters.

A request for a particular treatment is not automatically legally binding, although it should be taken into account.
A valid and applicable refusal of treatment can be legally binding when the statutory conditions are met.

If you want a refusal to apply to life-sustaining treatment, the DSS guidance sets specific requirements. This is an area where precision matters, so use the official AHD materials rather than informal wording copied from another jurisdiction.

Can an AHD refuse basic care?

No. The Decision Support Service explains that an AHD cannot be used to refuse basic care. The directive is about healthcare and treatment decisions within the statutory framework.

When does the AHD matter?

Your AHD does not take ordinary decision-making away from you while you have capacity. It becomes relevant when you lack capacity to make the healthcare decision to which the directive applies.

That is why specificity is useful. The clearer the circumstances and treatment wishes are, the easier it is for healthcare professionals and any DHR to understand what you intended.

How do you make an AHD?

An AHD must be in writing. The DSS guidance requires it to be signed by you and by two witnesses. If you appoint a designated healthcare representative, that person also signs the directive.

The Decision Support Service provides forms and guidance for making, changing and ending an AHD. There is no DSS fee for making, changing or ending one.

Useful practical step: an AHD cannot help if nobody knows it exists. The DSS recommends making the people involved in your healthcare aware of it and giving relevant healthcare professionals a copy.

What is a designated healthcare representative?

A DHR is someone you appoint in the AHD to act within the authority you give them. The role is different from an attorney under an EPA.

Choose a person who can understand your wishes, communicate clearly with healthcare professionals and make difficult decisions without substituting their own preferences for yours.

Living will vs ordinary will vs EPA

Document	What it deals with
Advance Healthcare Directive	Future healthcare wishes and treatment refusals when you lack capacity for the decision
Enduring Power of Attorney	Specified personal welfare and/or property and affairs decisions if capacity is lost
Will	Your estate, executors, beneficiaries and related wishes after death

An EPA cannot be used to include consent to or refusal of treatment. That belongs in an AHD. Likewise, an AHD does not appoint an executor or decide who inherits your home or savings.

A simple example

Example: Patrick makes an AHD while he has capacity. He records a treatment refusal that is intended to apply in specified future circumstances and appoints his sister as his DHR. Years later, Patrick lacks capacity for the relevant healthcare decision. The healthcare team considers whether the directive is valid and applicable to the circumstances. His sister's role is governed by the authority Patrick gave her in the AHD, not by what she personally thinks he should have chosen.

Should you talk to your doctor?

For significant treatment choices, yes. An AHD is a legal document, but it is also a healthcare document. Discussing the practical meaning of treatments and scenarios with a doctor can help you express wishes that are medically meaningful rather than vague.

Should everyone have both an AHD and a will?

They address different risks, so having one does not make the other redundant. Whether you need an AHD is a personal healthcare-planning decision. Whether you need a will depends on what you want to happen to your estate and family arrangements after death.

Sorting the estate-planning side?

MakeAWILL.ie provides Irish will templates for straightforward family situations. Choose the will that fits your circumstances. For an AHD, use the current Decision Support Service forms and guidance.

Official DSS guidance

Important: This article is general information, not medical or legal advice. Use the current DSS guidance and discuss significant treatment decisions with an appropriate healthcare professional.