Personal Directive

If you have a personal directive, the person or people you’ve picked to be your agent would have legal authority to make personal decisions for you.

You can register your personal directive with the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) so healthcare providers can easily find your agent or agents if something happens to you.

What is it

A personal directive is a legal document that you write in case you can’t make your own personal decisions in the future. The document:

• names a person or people you’ve picked to act on your behalf as an agent or agents to make personal decisions for you
• makes sure your written instructions are known in case something happens to you
• is optional and voluntary
• comes into effect if you’re found to lack capacity

Kinds of instructions to write

Your instructions can be about any or all personal matters that are non-financial, such as:

• medical treatments you would or wouldn’t want
• where you’d like to live
• who you’d like to live with
• who you want to temporarily care for your minor children
• choices about other personal activities:
o recreation
o employment
o education
• any other personal and legal decisions

• Presently, it is not law to register a Personal Directive with government. Therefore there is no assurance of accountability. One must understand that there is always a chance that your agent could misuse their authority.