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Living will guidance
This page no longer sells a form. A living will is most likely to be honored when it follows the law of the state where it will be used — the signing rules, the required wording, and even the document’s name differ from state to state. Choose your state below to go to the health care directive we carry for your state.
Guidance
For years this page sold a one-page national living will declaration. We retired it because living wills are among the most state-specific documents in American law: a single national form cannot track more than fifty different sets of execution rules and required wording, and the moment the document matters most is the moment nothing about it can be fixed. This page now routes you to the form built on your state’s current law.
Witness and notary rules, mandatory statutory language, pregnancy provisions, and even whether a standalone living will exists at all differ by state. A document that ignores those rules risks being set aside exactly when it is needed.
The declaration previously sold here stated a general wish about life-prolonging treatment and named a person to make decisions. It predated the statutory forms most states have since adopted, and living will formalities vary too widely by state for one national document to track. We no longer offer it — for sale or as a free download.
Your download remains available from your original order link, and this change does not cancel any document you have already signed. Because the law has moved on, we recommend comparing a signed document with your state’s current form — the finder above routes you there.
Four steps — and nothing to buy that does not fit your state.
Living will law is state law. Witness counts, notarization, required wording, and even the document’s name — living will, declaration, or advance directive — are set state by state.
Your state’s form walks you through the decisions: life-sustaining treatment in a terminal condition or permanent unconsciousness, comfort care and pain relief, and — in most states — space for additional instructions such as artificially administered food and fluids.
Most states require two adult witnesses; some require or accept notarization, and many bar certain people — your agent, your heirs, your treating providers — from witnessing. The state page lists exactly what your state requires.
Give copies to your health care agent, your family, and your physician, and ask that it be placed in your medical record — a living will only works if the people making decisions know it exists. If the form your state uses does not appoint a health care agent, complete that state’s health care agent form as well. You can revoke or replace your directive at any time, in any way that communicates your intent — you do not need to be well, and most states require no particular formality for revocation.
Because there is no nationally valid living will. Every state sets its own execution rules, and many require specific statutory language. We would rather show you the correct state form than sell a document that is not built on the law that will actually govern it.
A living will states your treatment wishes — primarily about life-sustaining treatment near the end of life. A health care power of attorney (or health care proxy) names a person to make decisions when you cannot. An advance directive is the umbrella term, and many states now combine both into one document. The finder above routes you to whichever form your state uses.
Yes, if you have not already. A living will states your wishes; a health care agent has legal authority to make sure they are carried out — and to decide the questions a written directive cannot anticipate. If the form your state uses does not appoint an agent, complete that state’s health care agent form (a health care proxy or health care power of attorney) as well.
A document that does not follow your state’s rules can be disregarded at the exact moment it matters. Some states treat a nonstandard document as evidence of your wishes, but physicians and hospitals are on the firmest legal ground when the document fits the statute. The state form is the reliable path.
Your download remains available from the delivery link in your original order. If you cannot find it, contact us at ilrg.com/contact with your purchase email and order number and we will resend the link. Nothing you have already signed is cancelled by this change — but we recommend comparing it with your state’s current form.
Usually not. State forms are designed to be completed without a lawyer as long as you follow the signing rules exactly. If your situation is complex — strong wishes that depart from the defaults, property or care in more than one state, or a family dispute you foresee — a review with an estate-planning or elder-law attorney is worthwhile. ILRG provides self-help legal forms and information, not legal advice.
No. A POLST or MOLST is a medical order signed by a clinician for someone who is already seriously ill; it travels with the patient and directs emergency personnel. A living will states your wishes in advance. This page concerns living wills and advance directives only.
Your appointed health care agent, your physician (ask for it to be added to your medical record), close family, and anyone likely to be called in an emergency. Keep the signed original somewhere accessible — not in a safe deposit box no one can reach.