Organ donation and your Will: Make your wishes known!


Organ donation and your Will: Make your wishes known!

On the 1st December 2015, Wales made history by becoming the first country in the United Kingdom to create an “opt out” system of organ donation. Formally introduced by the Human Transplantation Wales Act, the plan was to combat the lack of organ donation by making everyone an organ donor unless they formally registered their wish not to be. Over two years on, it would appear that the scheme, although still in its infancy, is still creating waves with both the English and Scottish parliament considering whether to also implement such schemes. This also comes at a time when the number of organ donors is at an all-time high, with a report today detailing an astounding 11% increase in 2017.

Given the recent implementation of such schemes, you may be left wondering where you stand on compulsory organ donation, and the toss up of helping others when you’re gone against the right to decide what happens to your body after death.  Whatever your decision may be, it is important to make this known, and one way of doing this is by detailing the decision in your Will.

Not only can your Will deal with tangible assets, like money and property, when you pass away, but it can also detail what’s known as your “wishes of disposal”. In short this means whether you wish to be buried or cremated and whether you wish for any of your organs to be donated to medical science. The thought of passing away at some stage is not easy for anyone to bear, but by having an up to date Will that deals with your assets and wishes of disposal, you can ensure that you’re able to help others when you’re gone and provide peace of mind for your loved ones.

As a private client practitioner, and also a registered blood donor, I would certainly advise that you create and regularly update your Will so that everything is in order when you pass and ,should you wish, your Will could help make that difference to someone in need.
 
 Samuel Amer

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