Advance directives (Documento de Voluntad Anticipada)
- Law
A document in which a capable person writes down which treatments they accept or refuse if they later cannot decide.
What it is
The Documento de Voluntad Anticipada (DVA, advance directive) lets a capable person, healthy or ill, state their end-of-life care decisions in advance: for example, not to receive treatments that only prolong life without benefit. In Colombia the right to sign one is in Law 1733 of 2014 (art. 5, item 4), and the way to do it is in Ministry of Health Resolution 2665 of 2018. The DVA protects autonomy when the patient can no longer speak for themselves, and the doctor must look for it and take it into account.
Key articles
- Law 1733 of 2014, art. 5, item 4: any capable person, healthy or ill, in full use of their faculties, may sign a DVA to refuse unnecessary treatment and state their wishes on organ donation.
- Res. 2665 of 2018, art. 3: capable adults may sign it; the paragraph lets adolescents aged 14 to 18 state their decision, and the DVA must be replaced on reaching adulthood.
- Art. 4: minimum written content: city and date, name and ID, a statement that the person is in full use of their faculties, free from coercion and informed, clear and unequivocal preferences, and a signature.
- Art. 4, paragraphs: organ donation must be stated explicitly (opting out of presumed donation follows Law 1805 of 2016); video, audio and other media are accepted if they clearly show the content and the author.
- Arts. 5 to 8: the declarant chooses a notary (public deed), two witnesses with no dependent relationship with them, or the treating doctor, who signs with their medical registration number.
- Art. 10: the DVA can be modified, replaced or revoked at any time by the same means.
- Arts. 13 and 14: the treating doctor asks whether a DVA exists, requests it, files a copy in the medical record and recognises it as an exercise of autonomy, without setting aside the lex artis.
- Art. 15: the DVA's content is confidential for anyone who learns of it through their work.
In clinical practice
- When a patient with advanced disease is admitted, ask the patient or family whether a DVA exists and attach it to the medical record.
- If a capable patient says something different today from what they signed, what they say today counts.
- A DVA does not oblige anyone to give treatments that are not indicated; it does oblige respect for refusal of the ones the person does not want.
- If the patient cannot decide and there is no DVA, their representatives decide in the legal order (see surrogate decisions).
Status and official text
- Official text checked on 2026-11-05: Resolution 2665 of 2018 (25 June 2018) and Law 1733 of 2014, in the official legal compilation of the Superintendencia Nacional de Salud; sites cited: minsalud.gov.co and funcionpublica.gov.co.
- Resolution 2665 of 2018 partly regulates Law 1733 of 2014 and repealed Resolution 1051 of 2016 (art. 17).
- Resolution 813 of 2026 (art. 9.4) defines the DVA as a form of direct informed consent, which must meet Resolution 2665 of 2018 or the norm in force when it was signed.
- Resolution 813 of 2026, art. 9, paragraph 2: the DVA can be used to request euthanasia or AET, and counts as the confirmation and consent when the patient cannot give them directly. Art. 9.3 also recognises the Directivas Anticipadas of Law 1996 of 2019.
Test yourself
Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.
Which Colombian norm gives the right to sign a Documento de Voluntad Anticipada?
Law 1733 of 2014, article 5, item 4. How to do it is set out in Resolution 2665 of 2018.
Before whom can a DVA be formalised under Resolution 2665 of 2018?
Before a notary, before two witnesses or before the treating doctor; in the last case no witnesses are needed.
What happens if a capable patient today expresses wishes different from those in their DVA?
The current wishes prevail: the declarant always keeps the right to decide and can modify or revoke the DVA at any time.
Can adolescents state their wishes in a DVA?
Yes. Resolution 2665 of 2018 lets adolescents aged 14 to 18 state their decision; the document is replaced on reaching adulthood.
Connections
Educational content on ethics and health law; not legal advice. Laws and case law change: each page links the official text and says when it was last checked. For a real case, read the text in force and ask a lawyer or the medical ethics tribunal.
Sources: Resolución 2665 de 2018, por medio de la cual se reglamenta parcialmente la Ley 1733 de 2014 en cuanto al derecho a suscribir el Documento de Voluntad Anticipada (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2018); Ley 1733 de 2014 (Ley Consuelo Devis Saavedra) (Función Pública, Gestor Normativo, 2014); Boletín Jurídico No. 04 de 2026, section 2.2.6: Resolución 813 de 2026 (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, 2026).
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Representative model, for educational purposes only.