VES is the leading UK supplier of Living Wills. A Living Will is a legally binding document which sets out how you wish to be treated, should you no longer be able to communicate your wishes to your medical team.

Why make a VES Living Will?
What rights does a VES Living Will give me?
Is the VES Living Will a legally binding document?
How do I get a VES Living Will?
Can I buy a VES Living Will online?

If you lose the ability to communicate, for example if you develop severe dementia, or suffer a serious stroke, your doctors will decide what treatment they think is in your best interests. Although they may consult with your next of kin, it is the doctors who ultimately decide what to do.

However, a Living Will allows you to be the person making the decisions. A Living Will gives you the peace of mind of knowing that if the worst happens, your wishes will come first.

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In a Living Will you can set out what medical treatment you wish to refuse in such circumstances - for example you may not wish to be resuscitated or tube-fed. If you do not make a Living Will your family will not have any legal right to act on your behalf.

You can also use a VES Living Will to nominate a 'Health Care Proxy'; someone, perhaps a friend or relative, who knows your wishes and can communicate them to the medical team on your behalf. Living Wills can only be used to accept or refuse legal medical treatment, not to actively end life.

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Yes it is! The VES Living Will has been written by top lawyers to ensure its legal standing. Our Living Will is also pro-choice – you can use it to refuse life-prolonging medical treatment, or, you can use it to request that your life be prolonged whatever your prospects of recovery.

Refusals of treatment are legally binding upon doctors, requests for treatment are not binding on medical professionals, but they do give a better understanding of how you would like to be treated. Our aim is for everybody to be able to make their own choices about their own lives, whatever their individual beliefs.

Living Wills are recognised as being legal documents by:
• the British Medical Association
• the Royal College of Nursing
• the General Medical Council
• the Nursing and Midwifery Council
• the Law Society, and Age Concern

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A VES Living Will contains 4 forms, guidance notes and a Medical Emergency Card, which is for one person. The Living Will costs £19.50 (inclusive of postage). Please send a cheque made payable to VES or postal order for £19.50 to

VES 13 Prince of Wales Terrace, London W8 5PG
Or email us your address and we will post you a free information leaflet info@ves.org.uk

VES members are also entitled to reduced price membership of MedicAlert, a medical identification charity which communicates your Living Will directly to doctors in an emergency. www.MedicAlert.org.uk