Power of Attorney & Advance Directives Decide today who acts for you tomorrow.

If no binding arrangement exists, the KESB (Child and Adult Protection Authority) intervenes in Switzerland. This means:

• The KESB reviews your situation
• It decides whether guardianship is necessary
• It determines who takes over your affairs
• This can be a third person, not necessarily a family member

Many people assume that a spouse or children are automatically allowed to handle everything. This is not the case. Relatives have no unrestricted decision-making authority without a corresponding power of attorney or advance directive. Even the KESB recommends drawing up a power of attorney for care.

A power of attorney for care is an important legal document. It is therefore all the more crucial that it is formulated clearly, completely and in a legally secure manner. This is exactly where our platform comes in. You will be guided step by step, from the initial information to the finished document.

Our integrated guide explains every choice to you clearly and precisely. You always know what you are currently arranging and why. You can create the power of attorney for care at your own pace while having the assurance that nothing important is overlooked.

The structure and content are based on notarial consulting experience and proven practice. The result is a compact power of attorney for care to be written by hand. It is clearly structured, comprehensible and legally sound.

The entire process is deliberately kept simple, clear and efficient. This way you quickly arrive at a complete and easily understandable power of attorney for care.

The law provides two forms for the power of attorney for care. It can either be written entirely by hand, dated and signed, or it can be publicly notarised. Both forms are legally equivalent, provided the statutory formal requirements are met.

In practice, the handwritten power of attorney for care is far more widespread. It can be created or amended at any time without an appointment, without costs and without formal effort.

Public notarisation, by contrast, involves additional organisational and financial effort. However, in terms of content it does not offer greater substantive legal security than a correctly drafted handwritten power of attorney for care.

Both forms are assessed in the same way by the competent adult protection authority. A handwritten power of attorney for care is therefore no less secure — it is simply the more practical approach.

An advance directive (living will) is a written document in which you specify how you wish to be treated medically if you are one day no longer able to make decisions yourself. This may be the case after an accident, serious illness, in a coma or with dementia.

With an advance directive you make provision for the future. Your wishes apply even when you can no longer express them yourself. This preserves your right to self-determination and ensures that doctors know what you want.

Medical treatments may generally only be carried out with your consent. But if you are no longer capable of making decisions, you can no longer give or refuse this consent yourself.

Without an advance directive, others must decide what would presumably be in your interest. With an advance directive you relieve your relatives of this difficult decision and ensure that your own wishes are respected.

In an advance directive you can specify, for example,

• whether you wish to have life-prolonging treatments or not,
• whether you wish to be resuscitated,
• whether you wish to be fed or hydrated artificially,
• how important pain management and symptom relief are to you,
• which medical measures you accept or reject,
• and who should represent you if you are no longer able to decide for yourself.

You can also designate a trusted person. This person then speaks with the doctors and ensures that decisions are made in your interest.

A serious accident or sudden illness can mean that you are no longer able to make medical decisions yourself. Without an advance directive, your relatives are then faced with difficult questions:

• Should life-sustaining measures be carried out?
• How far should treatment go?
• Does this decision truly reflect your wishes?

In an already distressing situation, family members must make decisions that can be far-reaching and final. This often leads to great emotional strain, uncertainty and even feelings of guilt.

An advance directive creates clarity. You record in writing which medical measures you wish for and which you do not. This relieves your loved ones of the burden of having to decide what your presumed wishes would be.

Advance planning therefore means not only self-determination, but also protection for the mental health of your family.

In an advance directive you can also state your position on organ donation. You can specify whether you wish to donate organs after your death or not. This creates clarity for doctors and relieves your relatives in a difficult situation.

You can also record further personal wishes, for example regarding religious support or specific ideas about end-of-life care.