Living Will (Advance Health Care Directive)

​A Living Will, or an Advance Health Care Directive, specifies your end-of-life health care wishes in the event you are unable to communicate them. This is important if you disagree with your state's end-of-life health care laws, which will govern your care unless you state otherwise.

With a Living Will, you can state whether you would want your life to be artificially prolonged in the event of a devastating illness or injury. A Living Will also allows you to name someone you trust as your health care agent, who will make health care decisions on your behalf if you become temporarily or permanently incapacitated. Finally, a Living Will is a good document in which to state whether you want to be buried or cremated, or have a funeral or memorial service. A Last Will and Testament may not be read until a few days after your death, when it might be too late to make your final arrangements.

In short, a Living Will allows you to make your own choices and help your family avoid confusion and disagreements.

Swipe or click the arrow to your right to learn more about filling out the Living Will form below.

After you fill out the form below and press submit, please be patient. Simply Free Legal guarantees your responses will be read by a live person (disclaimer: this person is not an attorney) to ensure accuracy. We will contact you with any questions or concerns. You will receive a PDF copy of your Living Will via email. The email will include your state's requirements to validly execute your Living Will.
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After you and your witness(es) sign your Living Will, make copies of it and give a copy to your health care agent and any alternate agents, family members, spouse, and primary care physician. Ask your primary care physician to place a copy of your Living Will in your medical file. Keep the original in a safe but accessible location. There are online registries where you can upload your Living Will, such as the U.S. Living Will Registry. Some registries will give you a wallet card with a registration number that emergency medical personnel can use to access your Living Will. 

Note that a Living Will can be changed only by executing a new Living Will. To do this, simply destroy all copies of your previous Living Will and create a new one using the form below. Notify your doctor and anyone else who was involved in the previous Living Will that you have created a new one, and submit the new version for your medical record.

Swipe or click the arrow to your right to learn about the difference between a Living Will and a Do-Not-Resuscitate (DNR) Order.

A Living Will is not the same thing as a DNR, or a Do-Not-Resuscitate Order. A DNR is an order signed by a doctor that indicates the patient's wishes not to be resuscitated or revived. For example, with a DNR, you will not receive CPR if you stop breathing. A DNR may be appropriate if quality of life is low. Please consult with your medical provider.

Your Living Will can state that you want a DNR, but you will need to show your Living Will to a medical provider in order to obtain a DNR and a bracelet that informs emergency medical personnel not to revive you. 

You're all set! Please begin filling out the Living Will form below.

Questions? Contact us.

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