Advance directives and living wills in New Zealand

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed annually, or sooner if the rules it describes change.

An advance directive, sometimes called a living will, is your own consent to or refusal of specific medical treatment in a future situation where you can no longer decide. The Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights says "Every consumer may use an advance directive in accordance with the common law" (Right 7(5)). New Zealand's advance care planning programme says a valid directive is legally binding. Validity turns on capacity, freedom from pressure, understanding and clarity about when it applies.

What the law says

The Code of Rights is set out in regulations. It gives three pieces of the picture (Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights, version as at 6 November 2021).

• Consent comes first. Under Right 7(1), services may be provided only if the consumer makes an informed choice and gives informed consent, unless an enactment, the common law or another part of the Code provides otherwise.
• Competence is presumed. Under Right 7(2), every consumer is presumed competent unless there are reasonable grounds for believing otherwise. Under Right 7(3), a person with diminished competence keeps the right to make choices to the extent appropriate to their level of competence.
• Advance directives are recognised. Right 7(5) is the sentence quoted above. The Code defines an advance directive as "a written or oral directive" by which a consumer makes a choice about a possible future health care procedure, and that is intended to be effective only when the person is not competent.

So a directive does not have to be written. It is a choice you make now, for use only if you later cannot make the choice yourself.

When is it legally binding?

The national advance care planning programme, run by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, says valid advance directives are legally binding. It describes a directive as valid when:

1. the person had mental capacity to make it
2. they made it freely and without undue influence
3. they understood the risks, benefits and consequences of consenting to or refusing the specific treatment, and
4. it is clear on the circumstances it applies to, so a clinician using it is sure it is what the person would have wanted.

Those four points come from the programme's guidance (myacp.org.nz: Questions and answers). They are not a statutory test, so we have not presented them as case law. The programme gives this example of clear wording: "if I had a severe stroke and was unable to recognise anyone, I would like my care to focus on allowing a natural death. I would accept comfort measures but refuse artificial feeding."

It also says a valid directive is binding even where the refusal of treatment is not what the clinician thinks is in the person's best interests, "just like when a person is competent and refuses a treatment". If a directive falls short on one of the four points, it may not be treated as binding, and the sources we read do not list other situations in which a team can set one aside. Treat it as strong, not as a guarantee.

What you can put in one

A directive covers choices about treatment. The programme describes it as specific medical treatments you would or would not want in a specific situation, and says it can be:

• part of an advance care plan (section 6 of the national form)
• a standalone document, or
• something you state verbally.

It "does not need to be signed or dated", but doing both helps your health care team know when you made it and what you understood about your condition at the time. The programme also says a directive does not require a lawyer to create (myacp.org.nz: Your plan). Our guide to the wider advance care plan shows where it fits.

CPR is a common example. govt.nz says that if you decide you do not want CPR in some situations, you need to make an advance directive, because your attorneys must allow it (govt.nz: Create an enduring power of attorney, last updated 21 January 2025).

What it cannot do

On the third point, the programme says that treatments that will not medically benefit you will not be provided, even if you specifically ask for them. On assisted dying, Health NZ says it "is different to choosing not to receive treatment as your health condition gets worse" (Health NZ: End of life planning and care); see our guide to the assisted dying process.

Advance directive versus enduring power of attorney

The two documents do different jobs, and one cannot stand in for the other.

• An enduring power of attorney (EPA) for personal care and welfare names a person to make or communicate care and welfare decisions if you cannot. It is prepared by, and signed in the presence of, a lawyer. Attorneys cannot, by law, refuse consent to standard medical treatment intended to save your life or prevent serious damage to your health, and "they can't write an advance care plan or an advance directive" for you (myacp.org.nz: Questions and answers).
• An advance directive is your own choice about treatment. Only you can make it.
• A property EPA is about money and assets; our power of attorney guide covers it.

It makes sense to tell your attorney about your directive and give them a copy. A directive is also separate from a will: your will takes effect only after you die. If you die without one, the estate follows the intestacy rules in our guide to dying without a will.

Making one that works

1. Think about the situations. The more specific the wording, the easier it is to apply. Vague wishes can be hard for a clinician to rely on.
2. Talk to your doctor. The programme suggests a health professional helps with the treatment section.
3. Write it down, sign and date it. A directive on the national "My advance care plan" form is the easiest route.
4. Share it. A directive helps only if the people treating you know about it. Give copies to your family and whānau, your GP, your health care team and your attorney, and take one to planned hospital admissions.
5. Review it. Change it as often as you like while you have capacity.

Funeral wishes are a separate document

A directive does not cover what happens after you die. The executor has the final say on burial or cremation, whatever the will says (Community Law: Choosing an executor), so tell the people closest to you what you want. If you are also thinking about how to pay for a funeral, our guide to what funeral insurance is sets out the options.

One product people look at is Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, issued by Momentum Life Limited. It takes New Zealanders aged 40 to 75, asks no health questions and pays a fixed benefit of $3,000 to $30,000 towards costs. For the first 24 months it pays only on accidental death (death within 90 days of the accident); any other death in that window pays no benefit and the premiums paid for that person are refunded. Total premiums over a long life can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. Momentum Life Limited has an A.M. Best rating of B (Fair), affirmed on 11 February 2026 (Momentum Life: financial strength). The product page is Momentum Life Funeral Cover. Savings and a prepaid plan are other routes.

Compare your cover with a licensed NZ adviser · free, no obligation.

Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Advance Directives NZ: Living Wills and Legal Standing. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/estate/advance-directives-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.

References

• Health and Disability Commissioner (Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights) Regulations 1996
• myacp.org.nz: Questions and answers
• myacp.org.nz: What is advance care planning?
• myacp.org.nz: Your plan
• govt.nz: Create an enduring power of attorney
• Health NZ: End of life planning and care
• Community Law: Choosing an executor
• Momentum Life: Financial strength

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