Living wills

Any person may refuse medical treatment even if such refusal will result in irreversible harm or death, unless such treatment is sanctioned by law. To be able to make such a declaration such as the “living will”, a person must be over the age of medical consent and “compos mentis”. The declaration will remain valid even if the declarant later on becomes “non compos mentis”. This proviso is not the same for Powers of Attorney which loses its authority once the principal (declarant) becomes mentally incompetent.