Does a Will Cover Medical Decisions in Nunavut?
Last updated 2026-06 · Nunavut
No — a will has no effect while you're alive. It governs only what happens after death. If you become incapable through illness or injury, your will can't authorize anyone to manage your money or your medical care. Nunavut handles incapacity with separate documents.
A will is a death document
Your Nunavut will distributes your estate, names an executor, and can name a guardian for minor children — but each of those powers begins at death. Incapacity needs its own planning.
Nunavut's incapacity documents
- Enduring Power of Attorney (under Nunavut's Powers of Attorney Act) — lets a person you choose manage your financial and legal affairs (banking, bills, property) if you lose capacity. An enduring version continues through incapacity.
- advance directive / substitute decision-maker arrangement (Nunavut has limited standalone personal-directive legislation; many residents use a lawyer-drafted directive) — Nunavut's instrument for medical and personal-care decisions. You name a proxy to make health decisions and record your treatment wishes for use if you can't decide for yourself.
Without these, your family may have to apply to court to be appointed your guardian or trustee — slow and stressful at the worst time.
"Living wills" in Nunavut
What people loosely call a "living will" is, in Nunavut, the document above for health and personal care. You can set out the care you do and don't want, and your named proxy is responsible for honouring it.
The Nunavut document set most adults need
- A will (after death).
- A Enduring Power of Attorney (finances during incapacity).
- A advance directive / substitute decision-maker arrangement (medical and personal care during incapacity).
Together they cover incapacity and death — the gap a will alone leaves open.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a will and a power of attorney in Nunavut? A will operates after death; a power of attorney operates while you're alive but incapable. Do I need a living will in Nunavut? Nunavut's version is the advance directive / substitute decision-maker arrangement, which covers your medical wishes and names a proxy. Who makes medical decisions if I'm incapacitated in Nunavut? Your proxy under a advance directive / substitute decision-maker arrangement; without one, a substitute decision-maker under provincial rules or a court-appointed guardian. What documents do I need besides a will in Nunavut? A Enduring Power of Attorney and a advance directive / substitute decision-maker arrangement.
Not legal advice. General information about Nunavut law as of 2026. Confirm specifics with a Nunavut estate lawyer.
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