Living Will Builder

A living will (Patientenverfügung) is your written instruction to doctors for the case that you can no longer form or express your wishes. Since 2023 it is governed by § 1827 BGB (previously § 1901a). Any adult who understands what it is about can make one. It must be in writing and signed by your own hand. You do not need a notary, and witnesses are optional. You can revoke it at any time, even verbally.

The most common mistake sits in a single sentence: "I do not want any life-prolonging measures." In 2016 the Federal Court of Justice decided that such a sentence on its own is not concrete enough (decision of 6 July 2016, XII ZB 61/16). A living will is binding only if it shows in which situations it applies and which measures you then want or refuse. In 2017 the court added that clearly named illnesses or treatment situations help with this (XII ZB 604/15). The builder is designed around exactly that.

That is why nothing is ticked in advance. First you choose the situations: the dying process, the final stage of an incurable illness, lasting loss of awareness through brain damage, very advanced dementia, or your own description. Then you decide one by one on life-sustaining treatment, pain and symptom treatment, artificial nutrition, ventilation, dialysis, antibiotics, blood and resuscitation. Every medical term is explained in one sentence, and every medical question reminds you to talk it over with your doctor. If you leave every single measure open, the builder tells you the document would be too vague.

Then come the points that make the difference in an emergency: where you would prefer to die, who should be with you, whom doctors may inform, who enforces your wishes and whose view counts when something is unclear. And organ donation, including which comes first if donation and the living will contradict each other. The structure follows the text modules of the German Federal Ministry of Justice; the wording is our own, in plain language and in the style of a personal declaration. The document itself is written in German so that doctors in Germany can read it at once.

A living will alone is often not enough. Someone has to stand up for it towards the hospital and the doctors. That is the person named in your lasting power of attorney; otherwise the guardianship court appoints a guardian. Since 2023 spouses may decide for you only in an acute emergency and for at most six months (§ 1358 BGB). That is why the builder links straight to our Power of Attorney Generator for the lasting power of attorney and the guardianship directive.

At the end you get a cleanly typeset A4 PDF with signature fields, optionally with fields for a doctor's confirmation and a witness, plus a table for regular reconfirmation. You also get a credit-card-sized wallet card to cut out. Name and address come from your Amtsprofil, the PDF goes into your Aktenschrank, and the deadline tracker reminds you to sign again in one or two years. Everything runs in your browser. The builder does not replace medical or legal advice; it helps you write down your own living will clearly.