Documents / Personal & Family
Living Will (Advance Directive)
State your wishes about life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition, and comfort care if you cannot speak for yourself.
Time
~10 min
Questions
9
Steps
2
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What we will cover
- 01
About You
Important: a living will must be printed and signed on paper before witnesses and/or a notary. Electronic signatures are NOT valid for advance directives in most states.
- 02
Treatment Directives
These choices apply only if you cannot communicate your own decisions. You can change or revoke them at any time while you are able.
- 03
Review and generate
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About this document
A living will — also called an advance directive — records what you want done if you have a terminal condition or are permanently unconscious and can no longer speak for yourself. It covers life-sustaining treatment, artificial nutrition and hydration, comfort care, and organ donation. Its real function is practical: it gives your physicians clear authority to act and spares your family from guessing, and arguing, at the worst possible moment.
Signing formalities vary by state. Most states require two adult witnesses, and many disqualify your relatives, anyone who inherits from you, your attending physician, and employees of your care facility; some states require or accept a notary instead of, or alongside, witnesses. Several states publish their own statutory form that providers recognize on sight. Print and sign in ink, then give copies to your physician, your family, and your healthcare agent.
Common questions
What is the difference between a living will and a medical power of attorney?+
A living will states your treatment wishes in writing; a medical power of attorney names a person to make decisions for you. Most people should have both, because no document can anticipate every situation and no agent can read your mind. Some states combine them into a single advance healthcare directive.
Is a living will the same as a DNR order?+
No. A do-not-resuscitate order, and a POLST or MOLST form, is a medical order signed by a physician and placed in your chart, which emergency personnel can act on immediately. A living will is a legal document you sign to state your wishes, and it is what your physician relies on when deciding whether to write such an order.
Does a living will need to be notarized?+
It depends on the state. Most require two qualifying witnesses; some require notarization; a few accept either. Quill's version includes both a witness attestation and a notary block, so you can satisfy whichever your state uses — check your state's requirement before you sign, and do not have a relative or a beneficiary of your estate witness it.
General information, not legal advice — laws vary by state and change over time.
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