A Living Will is a legally recognized document that outlines the specific medical care you wish to receive if you can no longer make medical decisions for yourself. It’s commonly requested by doctors and healthcare workers to understand what treatments to proceed with during medical emergencies and end-of-life care.

A Living Will is also known as a Health Care Directive. Some states use the terms Living Will and Health Care Directive interchangeably, while others use one term but not the other. The requirements for this document can also vary by jurisdiction.

Other common names for this document include:

• Advance Directive
• Advance Medical Directive
• Advance Decision Form
• Personal Directive

LawDepot's Living Will template automatically customizes your document to suit the laws in your selected state.

A Medical Power of Attorney is a document that appoints someone to make medical decisions on your behalf. This person is known as your healthcare agent. Alternatively, your jurisdiction may call them a healthcare representative, surrogate, or attorney-in-fact.

An agent can use your Living Will to follow your wishes for treatment in medical emergencies if you’re no longer capable of making those decisions yourself. In addition to your directions in a Living Will, LawDepot’s template allows you to grant decision-making authority to another person through a Medical Power of Attorney.

A Medical Power of Attorney is also known as a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care.

A Living Will goes into effect when you’re incapacitated or permanently unconscious, meaning you’re unable to make medical decisions for yourself. 

If your medical practitioner, care home staff, or other medical personnel have a copy of your Living Will, they can look at what decisions you’ve made in your document for the care they can administer. 

If you name a healthcare agent in a Medical Power of Attorney, they’ll work with medical teams to decide what treatment or intervention you’ll receive. If you’re incapacitated, your agent generally has the authority to:

• Consent or refuse consent to treatments (per your Living Will)
• Receive/review your medical and hospital records
• Sign any medical releases or health care documents

It’s important to inform medical personnel of your Living Will or Medical Power of Attorney and include it with your medical record. For example, say you are going in for surgery, and during the procedure, you go into a coma due to complications. Your agent and doctors will know what you wish to have for care throughout the stages of recovery and can follow it without causing stress on your family.

Creating a Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney is a key part of estate planning. It gives you control when you can’t speak for yourself and saves your family from making tough choices on your behalf. 

Doctors will ask if you have a Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney in certain situations, such as when you’re about to begin treatment or going in for surgery. 

When creating a Medical Power of Attorney, you can discuss your medical choices and end-of-life care with your chosen agent. This will give them a better idea of why you’ve made the medical decisions you want them to follow.

If you don’t have any directives, it will come down to who healthcare professionals can legally ask to make decisions for you. For example, in Arizona, the people medical personnel defer to when you have no agent or guardian are your:

1. Spouse, unless you’re legally separated
2. Adult children
3. Parents
4. Domestic partner
5. Siblings
6. Close friend

If your family and friends don’t know your medical wishes, they’ll have to use their best instincts in making medical decisions for you. In stressful situations such as determining life-support, their choices may not be what you wish for yourself.

At what age should I make a Living Will?

Anyone who is at least the age of majority for their state and has the capacity to make a Living Will should do so. 

It’s essential for any capable adult to be prepared for unexpected medical emergencies or if end-of-life care needs to take place. 

Your Living Will is a document that informs your healthcare providers of what kind of treatment you wish to receive in the specified medical situations. It is often called a Living Will because it is used while you’re still alive.

On the other hand, your Last Will and Testament documents how you wish your estate to be distributed when you pass away. It doesn’t leave instructions for medical care.

A Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney should also not be mistaken for an enduring or ordinary Power of Attorney. These documents name an agent to handle your day-to-day affairs like finances, business, and real estate should you become incapacitated or be absent for longer periods. It doesn’t include any details about medical care or grant an agent authority to make those decisions. 

Additionally, you cannot provide instructions about your choice of funeral or burial in your Living Will. To outline your wishes for a final ceremony, obituary, and more, use LawDepot’s End-of-Life Plan.

LawDepot’s customizable Living Will template lets you make a downloadable PDF to add or save to your estate plan. Follow our questionnaire with these easy steps:

1. Select what you want included in your Living Will

First, our template lets you decide what your document needs to include for your unique situation. The options include:

• Appointing someone as your healthcare agent
• Specifying your healthcare preferences
• Both options combined

People typically choose both. This helps add your medical wishes and appoint an agent to create both a Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney. Your selection will then prompt you to include what’s next.

2. Add your details

Include your name, location, and contact details. Adding your location is a must, as each state has specific requirements for this document. For example, Alabama and Kentucky require a Living Will and a Power of Attorney to be combined in one document.

LawDepot’s template is customizable for each state to follow your jurisdiction requirements.

3. If desired, name your healthcare agent

Next, name someone as your healthcare agent if you wish to do so. This person will make the health care decision on your behalf and follow the instructions in your Living Will. Remember, the official title for your agent will vary by your jurisdiction. 

You’ll need to add their name, location, and contact details. You may also need to specify their relationship to you.

4. Outline your healthcare choices

Include all the health care decisions you want in situations such as:

• Becoming terminally ill
• Ending up in a permanent coma
• Ending up in a vegetative state

If you’re pregnant or could become pregnant, you can include how you wish your medical choices to be carried out if your state allows these instructions. You can also include more specific instructions if you have any relating to your health care. For example, you may not want a blood transfusion during a medical emergency due to personal or religious beliefs. You can note this in your document to inform medical staff of this request.

If you’re unsure if you need more instructions, talk to your doctor or a lawyer about what else you may need to put into your Living Will based on your unique circumstances.

5. Add your signing details

Finally, add the date you’ll be signing your document. If you don’t have one yet, leave it blank.

You must add the location where you’re signing your document as signing must take place in the state you’re living in and the document is for.

Each state has its laws about who can be a healthcare agent. Generally, it must be someone who is at least 18 years old. The person you choose should also live nearby in case of an emergency. An agent must also be of sound mind and someone you trust to follow your wishes for medical care. Your healthcare professional (i.e., nurse, doctor, care home staff) should not be your agent.

It is important to talk to your possible agent. Communicating your wishes and putting them in writing can help them understand your decisions and ensure they are up for the task.

Can an agent override a Living Will?

Your agent and family generally cannot override your Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney if it’s valid. A Living Will is legally recognized, while a Medical Power of Attorney is legally binding.

There are a few instances where doctors can decide not to follow your Living Will. This includes if your instructions go against the institutes' policies or if they violate health care standards. However, a doctor can talk to you and your agent and refer you to another healthcare provider who will follow through with your decisions if they are unable to do so themselves. 

In situations where your instructions are unclear, a doctor will do their best to respect your wishes. If a doctor takes medically acceptable measures that follow your instructions, they generally cannot be found liable for those actions under state legislation. Some states also restrict doctors and agents from using a Living Will during pregnancy. 

Check your state laws for more details on your jurisdiction's restrictions.

Each state has different legislation and requirements for medical directives such as who can write one and when it may be restricted. Examples of these include the following:

If you want to know more about your state’s legislation or have questions about writing a Living Will, reach out to a lawyer. 

You don’t need a lawyer to make a Living Will or Medical Power of Attorney. LawDepot’s user-friendly questionnaire lets you make your Living Will with a Medical Power of Attorney in minutes.

If you have questions regarding your Living Will or estate planning, contact a lawyer for more assistance. 

Yes, you can make changes or revoke your Living Will and Medical Power of Attorney. Reasons you may need to update your document include:

• Being diagnosed with a new illness
• Change in marital status
• Move to a different state
• Change in choices for medical care

For example, say you get a divorce from your spouse. State legislation usually says that dissolving a marriage or legal separation revokes your spouse’s role as an agent. So you’ll need to ensure your document is up-to-date with a new agent of your choice.

If circumstances change you can create a new Living Will to revoke your original document. When you amend your document you will need to:

1. Give the new document and its copies to the appropriate people (e.g., doctor, nursing home, health care agent)
2. Discuss any changes in your health care preferences with your family, friends, and health care agent
3. Destroy outdated versions 

Each state will have different requirements for updating or revoking your Living Will. 

Some states require a Living Will and a Medical Power of Attorney to be notarized or witnessed. Even if your state doesn't require it, you may wish to notarize your document to help ensure its validity. It can verify your identity when signing and further authenticate your document.

Each state will have requirements for who can be a witness. For example, in the state of Washington, a witness must be a legal adult but cannot:

• Be related to you by blood or marriage 
• Stand to inherit from your estate
• Be your attending physician or their employees, or the employees of a health facility in which you are a patient

Notarize your Living Will without meeting a notary in person by using LawDepot’s Online Notary. Our online notarization services for Living Wills are available in all states except Minnesota.