Living will form

What it shows

If you're in the hospital and can't speak, a living will tells your doctors what treatment you want and don't want. With no spouse or kids to fill in the gaps, the paper has to do more of the talking. Pick your state to see the document that holds your treatment wishes, under its own name, and the law it's in. You'll see whether it stands on its own or is one part of a combined advance directive, who must be in the room when you sign, who can't witness, the state registry and, where the law says, when doctors use it.

Then, if you like, it builds a checklist: who'll witness, where the original lives, and who keeps copies. Every name is optional, and anything you skip prints as a line to fill in by hand.

Want to write your wishes first? Our living will template takes you through each treatment choice and prints your answers, so you know what to put on your state's form.

How to use it

This organizes the rules, it isn't legal or medical advice. A lawyer licensed in your state can confirm the form and the signing fit your case, and your state's official code has the final word.

Living will, advance directive, health care directive: same thing?

A living will is one kind of advance directive: the kind that gives your treatment wishes. The other kind names someone to speak for you. States call the living will different things. Texas has the Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates, and North Carolina the Advance Directive for a Natural Death. Illinois and Ohio say living will declaration, and Kansas, Missouri and Iowa a declaration. Washington calls it a health care directive, and New Jersey an Instruction Directive.

In California, Georgia and Pennsylvania it's part of one combined form. California's Advance Health Care Directive names your agent in Part 1 and takes your instructions in Part 2. New York, Michigan and Massachusetts have no living will law: the statutory document in New York and Massachusetts is a health care proxy, and in Michigan your wishes can go in a patient advocate designation. The living will vs directive guide sorts out the names.

Can you fill one in yourself?

States publish these forms for you to fill in, and most are optional. California's says "You are free to use a different form," and Florida's sample forms "need not" be followed. A few states want their own wording: Kansas and South Carolina ask for substantially the state's declaration, Oregon residents must use substantially the state's form, and Kentucky's Attorney General says the law "specifies the form you should fill out."

None of the signing rules we read calls for a lawyer. Most need witnesses, a notary, or both.

Who must be there when you sign

Two witnesses is the usual rule. California, Texas and Ohio let a notary stand in for them. Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Illinois want 2 witnesses, with no notary route in what we read. North Carolina wants 2 witnesses plus a notary or a court clerk, and South Carolina and West Virginia want witnesses and a notary too.

In Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Mississippi, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, the law sets no witness rule for the instructions themselves. The part of the paperwork that names an agent still needs a witness or a notary.

Who can't witness when you have no family

Bans on relatives cost you nothing when you have none. The limits that bite are the bans on your heirs and will beneficiaries, often the friends or charity you named, and on care staff. In Louisiana, neither witness can be entitled to any part of your estate. South Carolina bars heirs, life insurance beneficiaries, and your doctor and their staff. In Texas, at least one of your 2 witnesses can't be your heir, your doctor or their employee, or facility staff giving you direct care. Ohio bars your attending physician and the administrator of your nursing home.

If you'll sign in a hospital or nursing home, a notary route helps where there is one, as in California, Texas and Ohio.

When doctors use it, and what it can't do

A living will speaks only to the situations it names. Pennsylvania's comes into play once a copy reaches your attending physician and you're found incompetent with an end-stage condition or permanently unconscious. Florida lets your doctor follow it, with no surrogate named, when you have a terminal, end-stage or persistent vegetative condition and no reasonable chance of regaining capacity. North Carolina and Georgia want a second physician to confirm your condition.

The laws we read don't shelve it when no one speaks for you. Texas says that if your directive names no one, your physician must comply with it, unless they reasonably believe it no longer reflects your wishes. California says providers must comply with your instructions, subject to set exceptions.

What it can't do is argue for you. Every decision it doesn't cover goes to someone the law picks. In Florida, with no one else, that's a licensed clinical social worker selected by the provider's bioethics committee. A 2024 insurer analysis found that only 14 of 51 US jurisdictions spell out a process for patients with no one to decide. A friend named on your medical power of attorney form fills that gap, and health care proxy with no family covers who to name.

New York and Michigan

New York has no living will statute, but its law still counts a decision you've already made "orally or in writing," so providers needn't seek a surrogate's consent. For life-sustaining treatment, that decision must be in writing, or said in the hospital before 2 witnesses. The state bar association calls 2 independent witnesses "good practice." Michigan has no statute either: living wills there rest on court decisions. Our research rates these two as the states where a living will alone is weakest, so the document that names someone matters more: a Health Care Proxy in New York, a patient advocate designation in Michigan.

Is a living will the same as a DNR?

No. Texas lists an Out-of-Hospital DNR as a separate form from its directive, and New York's MOLST registry holds medical orders, not living wills. Ask your doctor whether you need a medical order too.

Where to keep it, and who gets a copy

A living will no one can find does nothing. In Pennsylvania it comes into play only once a copy reaches your attending physician, and Georgia's state form says a copy carries the same meaning as the original. So a copy with your doctor, and one with the hospital you'd most likely go to, does real work.

A few states keep a registry. California and North Carolina charge $10, Idaho up to $10, and West Virginia's is free. We found none in most states, and in Ohio counties record documents instead: Franklin County charges a flat $40.

Does it expire?

We found no fixed expiration date in California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina or Michigan. Pennsylvania's stays valid "until revoked by the principal, notwithstanding the lapse of time," and Texas's form says "This directive will remain in effect until I revoke it."

In Canada

Switch to Canada for the 10 provinces and 3 territories. In Ontario, the law we read names one document, the power of attorney for personal care: it names your attorney for personal care, can hold your instructions, and is signed before 2 witnesses. British Columbia's advance directive gives instructions only and names no one, signed before 2 witnesses or 1 lawyer or notary. In Québec, advance medical directives go on the RAMQ form, before 2 witnesses or by notarial act, and the RAMQ keeps a register. Elsewhere one document names someone and holds your wishes: a personal directive in Alberta, Nova Scotia and the Northwest Territories, a health care directive in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, and an advance directive in Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon. New Brunswick repealed its 2016 directive law, but a health care directive under its Enduring Powers of Attorney Act still holds your instructions: in writing, with no witness needed. Nunavut has no directive law, by a secondary source's account.

Where the facts come from

This is the same research as the advance directive form, narrowed to the document that holds your treatment wishes. We read each state's law on its own code site or agency page where we could, in October 2026. Where a site blocked us, we read a mirror copy of the code, and the page flags that state. Where we saw only a search summary, or read only the rule for the agent part of a combined form, it says "Not confirmed: check your state's official site." Massachusetts has no living will law, so its card points you to the health care proxy. Delaware (2025) and Utah (2026) moved to a new uniform law, so older guides for those two states are out of date.

Read next

• advance directive form: the whole packet, with the part that names your agent.
• medical power of attorney form: name someone who can speak for you.
• Living will: what it covers when no one can speak for you.
• Living will vs directive: is one part of the other?
• Health care proxy with no family or friends: who to name.
• Power of attorney form: the money side, your state's official financial form.
• Emergency contact card: a wallet card that tells anyone who finds you who to call.

This page isn't legal or medical advice and doesn't make a living will for you. Laws change, so check your state's official code before you sign.