Free Advance Directive & Living Will
Make a complete advance healthcare directive for your state — free, no account. It does two things: it names a health care agent to make medical decisions if you can't, and it records your living will (your end-of-life wishes). Pick your state for its exact signing rules.
⚠ A real directive — not legal or medical advice.
It becomes valid only when you sign it as your state requires (witnesses, and a notary in some states). Talk to your doctor about your wishes, and to an attorney for complex situations.
What an advance directive does
An advance directive is two documents in one. The health care agent part (a medical power of attorney or "health care proxy") lets someone you trust speak for you with doctors if you are unconscious or unable to decide.
The living will part records your own wishes about life-sustaining treatment (CPR, a ventilator, a feeding tube) if you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious with no reasonable chance of recovery. Together they keep the decision in your hands instead of leaving it to a court or a default surrogate.
The rules vary by state: how many witnesses you need, whether a notary is required, who is barred from witnessing or serving as your agent, and whether your wishes can be suspended during pregnancy. A few states (Massachusetts, Michigan, New York) have no living-will statute at all, so the agent you name does the heavy lifting.
How the generator works
Pick your state, then answer a short set of questions. The document builds on screen as you go and ends with the signature, witness and notary lines your state calls for. The text is fixed template language filled in with your answers; no AI writes it.
The choices you make
- Your agent and an alternate, with phone numbers so a hospital can reach them.
- When the agent's authority starts: when you cannot decide for yourself (the default), or immediately.
- Life support at the end of life: comfort care only, try treatment and stop if you will not recover, every measure available, or leave it to your agent.
- Artificial nutrition and hydration (a feeding tube): provide it, withhold it, or let your agent decide.
- Comfort care, organ donation, your primary doctor, and any other instructions in your own words.
"Let my agent decide" is a real choice, not a gap. Some people know their values but not how they would weigh a specific prognosis, and prefer to trust the person they named.
Signing rules by state
A directive that is not signed the way your state requires may not be honored. Your state page lists the exact steps; these are the main patterns.
Witnesses and notaries
Most states ask for two adult witnesses. Arizona, Delaware and Utah need only one qualified witness, and Arizona also accepts a notary instead. About half the states let a notary take the place of the witnesses, as Texas does.
A few states require more. North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia want both witnesses and a notary, and Missouri calls for both on a combined document because its health care power of attorney is notarized while its living-will declaration is witnessed. At the other end, Idaho and New Mexico require neither witnesses nor a notary, although using witnesses (or, in Idaho, a notary) helps the document get accepted.
Who may not witness or serve
Witness rules are where directives most often go wrong. Common exclusions are your agent, relatives, heirs, anyone financially responsible for your care, and your health care providers. Florida requires at least one witness who is not your spouse or a blood relative; Michigan bars your spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, siblings and presumptive heirs.
States without a living-will statute
Massachusetts, Michigan and New York have no living-will statute. There the operative document is the agent appointment: a health care proxy in Massachusetts and New York, and a patient advocate designation in Michigan. Your written wishes still matter as guidance to the agent.
In Michigan, your patient advocate can decide to withhold or withdraw treatment that would let you die only if you have said clearly that the advocate may make that decision and acknowledged that such a decision could or would allow your death. The generated Michigan document includes that statement.
Pregnancy
About half the states limit a living will during pregnancy. Texas's form says the directive has no effect if you have been diagnosed as pregnant, and South Carolina's declaration is not effective during a pregnancy. Delaware, New Mexico and Utah impose no automatic limit.
A worked example
This example is illustrative; the person is invented. Sam, 68, lives in Utah. Sam wants a daughter to make medical decisions, with a son as backup, and does not want to be kept alive by machines if there is no chance of recovery.
Sam names the daughter as agent and the son as alternate, leaves the start date at "when I cannot decide," picks "try life support for a while, then stop if I will not recover," and lets the agent decide about a feeding tube. Sam keeps comfort care on and adds a note about wanting to die at home if possible.
To sign, Sam follows Utah's rule: one disinterested adult witness who is not the agent, not a relative, not an heir or beneficiary, not financially responsible for Sam's care, and not one of Sam's health care providers. Utah does not require a notary. A neighbor with no stake in Sam's estate fits.
After you sign
A directive only helps if the right people can find it. Give copies to your agent and alternate and to your doctor, and ask that a copy go into your medical record. Keep the original somewhere your agent can reach, not in a safe-deposit box only you can open.
Talk to your agent about what you chose and why. The document cannot anticipate every situation, and the conversation is what lets your agent decide the way you would. Review the directive after a major diagnosis, a divorce, or a change in who you would want as agent, and sign a new one if your wishes change.
For a complete plan, pair this with a financial power of attorney, which covers money and property, and a last will, which takes over after death.
Editing Your Directive PDF Before You Sign
This generator is free. If you want to edit text or fill in fields in the PDF before you print and sign it, PDFelement is paid software that does that on Windows, Mac and mobile. It does not make a directive valid, and an e-signature does not replace any witnesses or notary your state requires. Changes made after you sign are not part of your signed directive: to change it, sign a new one following the signing steps on this page for your state.
See PDFelementAffiliate disclosure: if you sign up through this link we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Learn more
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a living will and a health care power of attorney?
A living will records your own instructions about life-sustaining treatment. A health care power of attorney (called a health care proxy or patient advocate designation in some states) names a person to make medical decisions for you when you cannot. The generator puts both in one document, because instructions alone cannot cover every situation and an agent works best when they know your wishes.
Who should I choose as my health care agent?
Someone you trust to follow your wishes even if they would choose differently, who can be reached quickly, and who can handle talking with doctors under stress. Name an alternate in case the first person is unavailable. Many states bar certain people from serving, such as your treating doctor, and your state page lists those limits.
Does an advance directive need to be notarized?
It depends on the state. Most states accept two qualified witnesses, and about half let a notary take the place of the witnesses. A few require both: North Carolina, South Carolina and West Virginia, with Missouri calling for both on a combined document. Idaho and New Mexico require neither. The state page lists the exact rule.
Who cannot be a witness?
Common exclusions are your agent, relatives by blood or marriage, anyone who would inherit from you, anyone financially responsible for your care, and your doctor or health care provider. The exact list differs by state; South Carolina and Michigan have some of the longest.
Will doctors follow my directive if I am pregnant?
Not always. About half the states limit a living will during pregnancy. Texas says the directive has no effect if you have been diagnosed as pregnant, and Missouri says a declaration to withhold treatment has no effect during the pregnancy. Other states, such as Delaware, New Mexico and Utah, impose no automatic limit. Your state page shows its rule.
When does my agent start making decisions?
By default the generated document gives your agent authority when you cannot make or communicate decisions yourself. You can choose instead to make the authority effective immediately, which lets your agent speak with doctors alongside you while you are still able to decide.
What happens if I do not have an advance directive?
Most states have a default surrogate law that picks a decision-maker from a fixed order, often a spouse or partner first, then adult children, parents and siblings. Some, including Massachusetts, Michigan and Wisconsin, have no general next-of-kin list at all. Either way, the person who ends up deciding may not be the one you would choose, and family members at the same level can disagree. A directive lets you choose.
Is anything I type stored?
The directive is built in your browser as you type. If you choose to email yourself a copy, the PDF is sent through our server to deliver that email; otherwise nothing you enter leaves your device.