Newton-Howes, GilesLenagh-Glue, JessieThom, KatieGordon, SarahGlue, PaulTamatea, Armon2026-05-282026-05-282026-03-23BJPsych International, ISSN: 2056-4740 (Print); 2058-6264 (Online), Cambridge University Press, 1-5. doi: 10.1192/bji.2026.100972056-47402058-6264http://hdl.handle.net/10292/21275Mental health advance directives are one mechanism to enable individuals to have a voice in their treatment at a time when most legislative systems would consider them to lack the capacity to make informed choices. This honours their will and preferences while at the same time recognising the difficulties of the legislative framework. In this review we consider the use of such advance directives in New Zealand, in the form of a specialised advance agreement known as a mental health advance preference statement (MAPS). By evaluating their development and considering their ethics and cultural components we offer insights into one approach to the creation and implementation of MAPS for other jurisdictions.This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. © The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Royal College of Psychiatrists4203 Health Services and Systems42 Health SciencesMental Health3 Good Health and Well BeingMental health lawethicsadvance directivesNew ZealandUNCRPDJournal ArticleOpenAccess10.1192/bji.2026.10097