Next of Kin - Organ Donation

A living will is otherwise known as an enduring power of attorney. They do have a legal basis having been enacted in the 1996 Power of Attorney act. An enduring power of attorney can give authority to an attorney appointed by you to make personal care decisions for you if you are incapable of doing so yourself however it cannot confer the right to make healthcare decisions and has been criticised because of that.
 
Hi Ged again,

Wow, this has really opened up a can of worms. I guess you would be better off going to see a solicitor and see if you can do a Living Will here in Ireland. However if it's true that your next of kin is free to ignore it, it really is a conundrum.

With me it's the reverse, my mother (who is terminally ill) sees my point of view, but I know my partner wouldn't be able to give the go ahead and turn off life support. I think would be an awful circumstance to be in and you should probably also sit down with all your nearest and dearest and tell them you want no arguments but these are your wishes in the event of anything happening to you. Then the person whom you know will most honour your wishes, give them the name and no of your solicitor and tell them that if anything does happen to you, this is the number to phone and let your solicitor deal with it from there.
 
Wow, this has really opened up a can of worms
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Tell me about it! I really got thinking again after i read the following post

This is a problem not only in relation to organ donation but also consent for medical procedures if you are not in a position to make a decision.
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I hadn't thought of this before. Basically what keeps racing through my mind is if i am in some kind of accident, where my life depended on a blood transfusion, according to their religious belief, they would refuse a blood transfusion on my behalf. Its something they feel very strongly about. I spoke to my partner about this and we really do need to speak to a solicitor to see if there is anyway medical decisions can be made by my partner and not my parents as he would carry out my wishes in a heartbeat.
 
please let us know how you get on as it is an issue that i never even thought about before when i signed my donor card.
I wonder if you spoke to someone like a chaplin to a hospital would they have come across this situation before.
 

I looked into this in great depth a couple of years ago. If you are not married the partner has absolutley no say in what happens to you medical wise or funeral wise. The Parents have all the say. I asked a solicitor about it. It was one of the reasons we got married. My religious beliefs are poles apart from my parents and I would not want them do decide important decisions about my life.
 
My religious beliefs are poles apart from my parents and I would not want them do decide important decisions about my life.
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Ditto. When looking into this, was marraige the only way you found would give your partner the right to make your medical decisions? As we won't be getting married, i was wondering did you find any other alternatives when looking into it?
 
GED I really wish you the best, hope everything works out for you, get the legal advice.
 
Tacking on to this thread as it seems most related. My question is whether there is a legal definition of who is next-of-kin? I'm single, have no children and my parents are dead. So at the moment I assume it's one of my siblings. Are all siblings treated the same for the purposes of next-of-kin (I'm specifically interested in living will situations)? Or would my oldest sister be considered next-of-kin? My brother, the youngest of us, is the one who I would trust most to follow my wishes and who is most aware of what those wishes are. Looking at a theoretical worst case scenario of a difficult situation bringing out the worst in my sometimes somewhat nutty family, would my oldest sister (actually a half-sister, not sure if that makes any difference) or any other sibling, be able to overrule my brother?

Obviously, in an ideal world, I'd meet Mr. Right, we'd fall madly in love and get married and he would become my next-of-kin but nearly forty years later and still waiting, it makes sense to not assume that's going to happen.
 
Hi Janet, I cant help, but am very interested in the answer!

Can an adult in Ireland choose their next of kin? Whether by power of attorney or similar? Can this person then make decisions regarding medical intervention, organ donation or burial etc? What would this person need to do to ensure the power of attorney was enacted (or how could they prove to a hospital etc that they had the decision-making rights)?

If any one has any experience in this, I would love to hear.. thanks!
 
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