One aspect of health care prevention is establishing a living will.

The living will is an advanced directive for medical treatment, in case consent cannot actively be communicated. The main motivation behind setting up a living will is the worry of being subjected to unwanted medical treatment as a nursing case.

In Austria, a law on advance directives was passed in May of 2006 and came into force on 1st of June, 2006. It allows patients to determine up to five years in advance which treatments they want to decline should they be unable to make such a decision at the time of treatment.

A distinction is made between a “binding” and a “considerable” living will.
For a binding living will, extremely high formal requirements are mandatory, including medical advice from a doctor and legal advice from a notary public, a lawyer, or the patient advocate. If all these formalities are not met, the living will is deemed a “considerable” disposal, which serves as a guide for physicians. In the case of a serious illness without hope of recovery and in which you yourself are no longer capable of making a decision (coma, wake coma, respiratory paralysis) it regulates your physicians’ behavior.

If you wish to establish a living will, please contact us for an appointment.

For further information: Patients’ lawyer