Living Will & Advance Medical Directive Generator (India)

About the Living Will & Advance Medical Directive Generator (India)

A living will, or Advance Medical Directive, says in advance which treatment you do not want if you are dying, or in a persistent vegetative state, with no hope of recovery and can no longer decide for yourself — a ventilator, resuscitation, tube feeding, dialysis — and who should give consent for you. The Supreme Court of India recognised such directives as part of the right to die with dignity under Article 21 in Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v Union of India (2018) 5 SCC 1, laid down how they are made and acted on, and later simplified the procedure: a notary or gazetted officer now attests the directive in place of a magistrate.

This tool writes the directive in the terms of those guidelines: your declaration that you are an adult of sound mind acting freely, the circumstances in which it applies, the treatments to be withheld or withdrawn, palliative care you still want, the guardians or close relatives who decide for you, revocation, and what happens to the copies. It ends with the signatures of two attesting witnesses, the attestation by a notary or gazetted officer, and a page to record who received copies. The free preview shows every page with your details and the first part of the wording; a Premium pass unlocks the directive to download, copy or print.

Common uses

• An older person who wants to spare their family a decision about life support.
• Someone with a serious diagnosis recording their wishes while they can still decide.
• Adult children helping a parent put an advance directive in the form hospitals expect.
• A doctor or hospice explaining to a patient what a valid directive must contain.

What the Supreme Court’s guidelines require

• Who: an adult of sound and healthy mind, able to communicate and to understand the purpose and consequences of the document, acting voluntarily without coercion, inducement or compulsion, with full information — an informed consent.
• What it says: in writing and in specific, unambiguous terms, the circumstances in which treatment may be withheld or withdrawn, that you understand the consequences, that you may revoke it at any time, and the guardian(s) or close relative(s) who give consent if you cannot decide. If there are several valid directives, the most recent one counts.
• How it is signed: before two attesting witnesses, preferably independent, and attested before a notary or gazetted officer; the witnesses and the notary or officer record that you signed voluntarily, without coercion, with full understanding.
• Copies: you inform and give a copy to the people you named and to your family physician; a copy goes to the competent officer of your municipal corporation, municipality or panchayat, who is its custodian; you may also add it to your digital health records.

The simplified procedure

Under the original guidelines a directive had to be countersigned by a Judicial Magistrate of First Class, who kept copies and informed the family. The Supreme Court found that this made directives hard to use and modified the guidelines (order in M.A. No. 1699 of 2019, (2023) 14 SCC 131): a notary or a gazetted officer now attests the directive, the executor hands over the copies, and the medical boards that decide on it are formed by the hospital, with time limits. The magistrate is now only informed before treatment is withdrawn.

When doctors act on it

Only when you are terminally ill or in a persistent vegetative state, undergoing prolonged treatment with no hope of recovery and cure, and no longer able to decide. The treating physician checks the directive against your digital health records or with its custodian. The hospital’s Primary Medical Board — the treating physician and at least two experts with five years’ experience — gives its opinion, preferably within 48 hours; a Secondary Medical Board with a doctor nominated by the district’s Chief Medical Officer and two other experts then does the same. With their agreement and the consent of the person you named, the hospital informs the Judicial Magistrate of First Class, and the decision is carried out only after a reconsideration period of thirty days, in which anyone aggrieved may go to court. If the Secondary Board refuses, your nominee, the treating doctor or the hospital staff may go to the High Court; so may your nominee if the hospital does not start the process. In Harish Rana v Union of India (summary on the Supreme Court’s site) the Court explained these steps for hospitals, treated clinically assisted nutrition and hydration as medical treatment, and required a palliative and end-of-life care plan when treatment is withdrawn.

What a living will cannot do

• It permits passive withholding or withdrawal of treatment only. No act to end a life is lawful, and no directive can ask for one.
• It is not applied if circumstances exist that you did not anticipate and that would have changed your decision, or if it is unclear — then the procedure for patients without a directive applies.
• It does not deal with your property or money: make a separate will for that.

Official sources

• Common Cause (A Regd. Society) v Union of India, Supreme Court Reports — the guidelines on advance directives, paragraph 191
• Supreme Court of India: landmark judgment summaries — Harish Rana v Union of India, which sets out the guidelines as modified by the order in M.A. No. 1699 of 2019 in W.P. (C) No. 215 of 2005, the reconsideration period and the palliative care plan
• Supreme Court of India — its judgments and orders

Limitations

• A template following the Supreme Court’s guidelines, not legal or medical advice. Talk to your doctor about the treatments you refuse, and to a lawyer if your situation is unusual.
• Nothing here registers or stores the directive: you sign it, have it attested and hand over the copies yourself. Ask your local body which officer is the custodian.
• It covers medical treatment at the end of life only — not organ donation, property or guardianship of children.
• The procedure comes from the Supreme Court’s guidelines, which apply until Parliament makes a law on the subject; check for changes before you sign.

Privacy

On this device; its files download once

Everything happens in your browser. Your health wishes, names and addresses are not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot. If you tick Keep a draft in this browser, the form is saved in this browser’s local storage until you untick it — leave it off on a shared computer.