DIY Advance Care Directive in NSW: Costs, Risks, and What Solicitors Charge

Yes, You Can Write Your Own ACD in NSW

NSW's common law framework for Advance Care Directives means there is no mandatory form, no required filing, and no legal requirement to involve a solicitor. You can write your ACD yourself — by hand, typed, or using any template you choose — and if you had capacity when you wrote it and the instructions are clear and specific, the document is legally valid.

This is one of the few areas of NSW law where a completely self-prepared document carries the same legal weight as one drafted by a $500-per-hour solicitor. The common law does not care who drafted it. It cares about three things: that you had capacity, that you acted voluntarily, and that your instructions are clear enough to apply to the clinical situation.

The catch is that while the law permits DIY, the practical risks of getting it wrong are severe. A vague or ambiguous self-drafted ACD can be legally ignored by treating clinicians under the principle established in Hunter and New England Area Health Service v A [2009] NSWSC 761.

What Solicitors Charge in NSW

Solicitor fees for advance care planning in NSW vary widely depending on the firm, location, and scope of work:

ACD only. A standalone Advance Care Directive drafted by a solicitor typically costs $200 to $400. Some firms bundle this as part of a broader estate planning engagement rather than offering it as a standalone service.

Enduring Guardian appointment. Drafting and witnessing an Enduring Guardian appointment under the Guardianship Act 1987 runs $250 to $550 per document. The solicitor serves as the prescribed witness (or arranges one), drafts the appointment form, and certifies the witness certificate.

Enduring Power of Attorney. A solicitor-prepared Enduring Power of Attorney under the Powers of Attorney Act 2003 costs $250 to $550, plus $182.73 for Land Registry registration if the attorney will manage real property.

Comprehensive estate planning bundle. A full package — ACD, Enduring Guardian, Enduring Power of Attorney, and Will — typically ranges from $800 to $2,000 for a single person and $1,200 to $3,000 for a couple.

The NSW Trustee & Guardian offers free document preparation for individuals receiving a full Centrelink Age Pension. For everyone else, their fees start at $231 per individual document and $693 for a standard estate planning bundle.

The free government option has a significant trade-off: if the NSW Trustee & Guardian is appointed as your attorney or guardian (which they may suggest during the drafting process), their ongoing management fees are steep — 1.1% of total managed assets per year (minimum $1,100), plus a $132 annual account-keeping fee, plus a $550 establishment fee.

What You Can DIY and What You Cannot

The ACD itself. Fully DIY-able. No prescribed form, no required witness, no filing. The quality of your drafting is the only constraint.

The Enduring Guardian appointment. Partially DIY-able. You can fill out the statutory form yourself (Schedule 1 of the Guardianship Regulation 2016), but you cannot self-witness it. You must arrange for a prescribed witness — a solicitor, Local Court Registrar, or approved NSW Trustee & Guardian employee — to witness the signing and complete the certificate of witness.

A Local Court Registrar can witness your Enduring Guardian appointment without charge. However, they will not help you complete the form, will not explain complex clauses, and will refuse to witness if they have any concerns about your capacity — at which point they will refer you to a solicitor.

The Enduring Power of Attorney. Same as the Enduring Guardian — you can prepare the document yourself using the statutory form, but a prescribed witness must witness and certify the signing.

The Real Risks of DIY

The risk is not that your DIY document is inherently invalid. The risk is that you make one of the common drafting errors that undermines its enforceability:

Vague clinical language. "No extraordinary measures" is meaningless in an ICU. You need to name specific treatments — CPR, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition, dialysis — and specify the clinical circumstances under which you refuse them.

Conflicting instructions. Your ACD says you refuse life-prolonging treatment, but your Enduring Guardian appointment directs your guardian to "ensure I receive the best medical care available." A clinician facing that contradiction will escalate to NCAT rather than follow either document.

Incomplete instrument coverage. You draft a thorough ACD but skip the Enduring Guardian appointment. When you lose capacity, your detailed treatment refusals exist, but no one has legal authority to advocate for them. The hospital defaults to the "Person Responsible" hierarchy — which may include family members who disagree with your wishes.

No distribution. Your carefully drafted ACD sits in a drawer. The hospital cannot find it, so it might as well not exist.

The Middle Path

Between a fully DIY approach and a $2,000 solicitor engagement, there is a practical middle ground: use a comprehensive, NSW-specific planning kit to draft your documents with clinical-grade templates, then take the completed statutory forms to a Local Court Registrar or solicitor for witnessing only.

This approach gives you the drafting precision of professionally prepared templates — addressing the specific clinical scenarios, treatment refusal language, and witnessing requirements that NSW common law demands — while keeping costs to the witnessing fee alone (free at Local Court, or $100-$200 at a solicitor for a signing-only appointment).

The New South Wales Advance Directive & Living Will Kit provides the complete framework: clinician-grade ACD templates, pre-filled Enduring Guardian appointment forms, a prescribed witness execution checklist with scripts for the witnessing appointment, and a document distribution plan — everything you need to DIY with confidence and bring to your witness fully prepared.

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