The number of registered applications at National Register of Advance Wills (RNVA) allows a person to leave in writing, while he has full capacity to decide, what are the syour wishes regarding health care i the treatments that she would want to receive or reject if, when the time came, she could no longer express herself. The document is incorporated into the clinical history so that healthcare professionals can consult it when necessary. The data for these requests has more than doubled in six years principality
RNVA applications
The record contributed by the health resources area of Government begins in 2019 with 87 registrations and the 2025 hit a series high, with 187one hundred more than at the starting point. The increase, however, has not been linear: after going down to 65 cases in 2020 i 71 in 2021requests rose to 93 in 2022 and they jumped up to 174 in 2023. The 2024 they were accounted for 168 ahead of last year’s new record. And the pace of 2026 maintains the high trend: up to 28 May 87 requests have already been registeredexactly the same as throughout 2019. The applications registered between the 2019 and the May 2026 add up to a total of 932.
Registration by age and sex
Women have filed more advance wills than men in all years of the series. The 2025 they were 112 women and 75 menwhile the 2024 the difference was of 103 to 65. The 2019 the figures were more balanced, with 45 women and 42 men. Until May of this year they had registered 54 women’s documents i 33 of men. By age, most of the registrations are concentrated among the 61 and 80 years.
The 2025, 56 requests corresponded to people aged 61 to 70 i 51 in the 71 to 80 rangemore than half of the total if you add the 28 from 51 to 60 years. Among the youngest, on the other hand, registration remains uncommon: that year there were no applications from minors 21 yearsone between 21 and 30 and eleven between 31 and 40. The people of 81 to 90 years old formalized 20 and those over 91three Until May 2026, the bands with the most records remained those of 61 to 70 years, with 21, and from 71 to 80, with 22.
Two “basic mechanisms”
the technician of theHealth Resources area of the Ministry of Health, Agustí Perisexplains the diary that to Andorra there is “two basic mechanisms” to register the document: do it through a notary or directly in front of the ministry. The notarial route, despite being paid, is the most used. The 2025 he concentrated 135 of 187 entriesin front of the 52 processed by the Government. The same pattern is repeated this year, with 69 documents from the notary and 18 submitted to the ministry until May. In this case, the notary “attests” to the will of the person, acts as a witness and sends the document to the ministry through a secure platform. Health takes care of it after you add it to the registry. “What we do is register it“, points out Peris.
To register the document can be done through a notary or from the government
This registration allows the document to appear in the clinical history of the person, so health professionals can check its existence and consult it when necessary. According to the technician, an alert appears in the medical history indicating that the patient has an advance directive document. Salud makes available to citizens a document modelbut using it is not mandatory. The person can write their own letter and, once the documentation has been submitted, the ministry checks that it is administratively correct. Peris points out that the area does not assess the content of the wills, only the registration.
Similar systems
The Andorran system shares some elements in comparison with the models of the two neighboring countries. A Spainthe prior instructions are formalized in accordance with the regulations of each autonomous community and the territorial registers communicate the information to National Register of Prior Instructions of the Ministry of Healthso that professionals can know the existence of the document even if the assistance is provided in another territory. State regulations define these instructions as the advance expression of an adult, capable and free person about the care and treatments he wants to receive when he can no longer personally express his will.
A Francethe advance directives it is also formalize in writing and serve to record the decisions regarding the end of life when the person can no longer express himself. There is, however, no mechanism identical to the Andorran register: the document can be included in the medical file or in the shared medical file, and you can also entrust the doctor or a trusted person. The French system allows you to indicate, among other things, whether you want to continue, limit or interrupt certain treatments. In both the French and Spanish cases, as is the case in Andorra, the aim is that the wishes expressed in advance can be located by professionals when the time comes to consult them.
