Making a ‘living will’ can clarify your dying wishes
French law allows people to make a “living will” to clarify their wishes about medical care if they find themselves terminally ill, near death and unable to express themselves.
Anyone can make a living will, called in French directives anticipées.
Doctors will respect your wishes as long as they agree that they are appropriate to the medical situation.
This document may concern such issues as limiting or stopping treatment, and whether doctors should to try to keep you alive at all costs, or instead offer palliative care, which may reduce suffering even if it means you die sooner.
It can also outline your wishes for pain relief and sedation and where you would like to die.
The document should be easy to find – one option is to register it on your dossier médical partagé (see here) or with your GP, a retirement home or hospital – and must be signed and dated and include your full name and date and place of birth.
You can find a template at goo.gl/cbiQDh. The first version is for someone close to death, the second for people in good health.
In the absence of such a document, doctors would consult your designated personne de confiance (if you chose one) and then close family. The document can be changed at any time.
See also: Death came without pain thanks to end-of-life care
