Advance directives in France: Everything you need to know

Any adult who wishes to do so can write them.

Adults under guardianship can write them, provided that the judge or the family council has accepted it.

By writing them, doctors will know what decision to make if you are no longer able to express yourself.

If they have not been written, then to make a decision, the doctors will discuss with the trusted person. If this is not possible, they will consult with the family or close friends, or even turn to the courts as a last resort.

Advance directives must be handwritten or typed by the person concerned on plain paper. Alternatively, the government provides a template for anyone who wishes to write, modify, or cancel them. It is also possible to write them directly on one's Shared Medical Record.

For people who are unable to write them, it is possible to call on 2 witnesses (including the trusted person). They must then attest that they have written the directives and indicate their name, first name, and their relationship with the person concerned.

Additionally, a doctor can help and advise you in the drafting process.

They can be written at any time in your life. It is not necessary to have an illness or a disability to make them known.

It is also important to know that it is possible to modify or delete them at any time.

When a doctor needs to know your advance directives, they must be able to find them quickly and easily. It is therefore necessary that they are easily accessible and that you inform your doctor and/or relatives of their existence.

There are several ways to make them known:

• Entrust them to your trusted person or a close friend or family member.

• If you have a shared medical record in your name, you can save your advance directives there.

• If you do not have one, you can entrust them to your doctor to keep them in your medical record.

• If you are staying in a hospital or a medical-social facility, you can hand them over to the staff who will record them in your file.

• Keep them at your home and/or carry an indication of the storage location with you.

Doctors are obliged to respect the wishes expressed in your advance directives.

However, they do not apply in 2 specific cases:

• If the situation is urgent and life-threatening and a step back is needed to make a decision that respects the advance directives.

• If they seem inappropriate or not in accordance with the medical situation. In this case, a collegial procedure must be carried out. This means that several doctors will consult with each other to make a decision.

The trusted person, or failing that, the family or close friends will be informed if it has been decided not to apply the advance directives.

Advance directives have no time limit.

Yes, you can modify or delete them at any time.

If you wish to modify them, simply write new ones and give them to your doctor, hospital, or medical-social facility, which will delete the previous ones. If the previous ones were recorded in your shared medical record, the new ones will be recorded there, and only the most recent ones will be taken into account.

The trusted person is someone you appoint to make decisions on your behalf if you are no longer able to express them. They must therefore know in detail what you want and what you do not want. The trusted person can also accompany you in medical procedures and appointments.

To designate a trusted person, you can declare it in writing using this template, or fill out the forms given to you when admitted to the hospital or nursing home.

Unlike last wishes, which specify to your loved ones your desires regarding your funeral and what should happen to your body after death (body donation to science, scattering of ashes, etc.), advance directives help your relatives and doctors make a decision when your health condition no longer allows you to express yourself.