You can get a living will for free from your state’s government website, from nonprofits like CaringInfo and AARP, or from your hospital or primary care doctor’s office. If you want guided help or a customized document, online legal services and estate planning attorneys also offer them for a fee. Because the rules vary by state, the form you use should match the laws where you actually receive medical care.
Free Places to Download a Living Will
Most people do not need to pay anyone to create a valid living will. Three sources cover almost every situation:
- Your state government. Many states publish an official advance directive form through the Department of Health or the Attorney General’s office. These forms already meet the state’s legal requirements for language and format, which is the main thing you are paying for anywhere else.
- Nonprofit organizations. CaringInfo, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, offers free downloadable advance directive forms with state-specific instructions for all 50 states and U.S. territories. AARP also provides free printable forms organized by state.
- Hospitals and doctor’s offices. Many hospitals and primary care practices keep blank living will forms on hand and will give you one during a visit or on request. Staff can often walk you through the sections.
A free form, properly filled out and signed, is just as legally enforceable as one drafted by a lawyer. The paper itself is not what makes a living will binding; execution does, and we’ll get to that below.
Paid Options: Online Services and Attorneys
If you want someone (or something) to walk you through the choices, online legal platforms offer interactive tools that prompt you question by question. FreeWill generates advance directives at no charge. LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer bundle living wills into broader estate planning packages that start around $99 and go higher depending on what you include.
Hiring an attorney gives you the most tailored document, which can matter if you have complex medical conditions or complicated family circumstances. Many estate planning and elder law attorneys include a living will in a package with a durable power of attorney and other planning documents. Those packages typically start around $250 for a straightforward set and climb with complexity and location. A standalone living will drafted by an attorney generally costs less than a full estate plan.
What the Form Will Ask You to Decide
Whichever form you download, expect it to start with the basics: your full legal name, address, and date of birth. The core of the document is a series of choices about life-sustaining treatments. For each, you indicate whether you want it, refuse it, or want it used in a limited way:
- CPR. Whether emergency responders and medical staff should attempt to restart your heart if it stops.
- Mechanical ventilation. Whether you want a machine to breathe for you if you cannot breathe on your own, and for how long.
- Artificial nutrition and hydration. Whether you want fluids and nutrients delivered through a feeding tube or IV if you cannot eat or drink. Studies show artificial nutrition near the end of life does not meaningfully extend life, so this is a decision worth thinking through carefully.
- Comfort care. Your preferences for pain management and palliative measures focused on comfort rather than curing an illness.
Most forms use checkboxes or short fill-in sections so you can specify whether each treatment should be used always, temporarily, or not at all.1National Institute on Aging. Preparing a Living Will
Naming a Healthcare Proxy
Many living will forms include a section for naming a healthcare proxy, also called a healthcare agent or medical power of attorney. This person speaks for you if a medical situation comes up that your written instructions do not specifically address. You will need the proxy’s full legal name, phone number, and address. Choose someone who understands your values and is willing to advocate for your wishes under pressure.2National Institute on Aging. Choosing a Health Care Proxy
Organ Donation
You can also use your living will to document whether you want to donate organs, tissues, or your body for medical research. Organ donation preferences are often recorded separately through a state registry or on your driver’s license, but including them in your living will ensures your medical team and family see your wishes in one place.1National Institute on Aging. Preparing a Living Will
Make Sure the Form You Get Is Actually Valid
A free form downloaded from any of the sources above becomes a legal document only after it is properly signed. Requirements vary by state and generally involve some combination of witnesses, notarization, or both.
You Need Mental Capacity When You Sign
You must have decision-making capacity at the moment you sign, meaning you understand the nature and consequences of the healthcare choices you are making and can communicate your decisions.3eCFR. 38 CFR 17.32 – Informed Consent and Advance Directives If you wait until a medical crisis has already impaired your thinking, it may be too late to create a valid document. That is the main reason to download and complete a living will while you are healthy.
Witnesses
Most states require one or two adult witnesses to watch you sign. The 2023 Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, which serves as a model for state laws, requires one adult witness who reasonably believes you are signing voluntarily. Under that model, your witness cannot be the healthcare agent you are appointing, that agent’s spouse or partner, or, if you live in a nursing home or residential care facility, an owner, operator, or employee of that facility.4North Carolina General Assembly. Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act 2023 Some states add further restrictions, such as barring anyone who would inherit from you. Check the instructions that come with your state’s form for the exact rules.
Notarization
Some states require notarization instead of, or in addition to, witnesses. Notary fees for standard acknowledgments are set by state law and typically range from $2 to $25 per signature, with most states capping the fee between $5 and $15. A few states, including Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, and Massachusetts, do not set a maximum, so notaries there may charge more.
Skipping required witnesses or notarization can make your living will unenforceable. Medical staff who cannot confirm the document was properly executed may disregard it during an emergency.
Make Sure You’re Getting the Right Document
A living will is not the same thing as a POLST or a DNR, and picking up the wrong form is a common mistake.
- Living will. A legal document you create to guide your future medical care. It helps your medical team, family, and healthcare proxy understand what you want, but it is not itself a medical order. Any adult can and should create one regardless of current health.
- POLST (Provider Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment). A medical order signed by both you and your physician. Because it is a doctor’s order, emergency responders and hospital staff are legally required to follow it. A POLST is designed for people who are seriously ill with a limited life expectancy, not for healthy adults doing routine planning.
- DNR (Do Not Resuscitate). A narrower medical order that addresses only whether to perform CPR if your heart and breathing stop. A POLST covers CPR and additional treatment preferences, making it broader than a standalone DNR.
If you are generally healthy, a living will is the right starting point. If you have a serious illness, ask your doctor whether a POLST should supplement it.
Two Situations the Standard Form May Not Cover
Before you assume the form you downloaded does what you want, know about two limits.
Pregnancy. Roughly half of U.S. states have laws that limit or override a living will’s instructions if the person is pregnant. About 10 states invalidate a living will entirely during pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy is viable. Another 17 or so states restrict the directive only if continued treatment could bring the pregnancy to term. The remaining states do not impose pregnancy-specific restrictions, though a few of those require you to include explicit pregnancy instructions in the directive if you want your wishes honored. If pregnancy is a possibility for you, add specific instructions about what you want if you are both incapacitated and pregnant.
Out-of-state use. If you split time between states, the living will you signed in one may not carry full legal weight in another. Most states have reciprocity laws that honor an out-of-state directive if it was valid where it was created or if it meets the requirements of the state where you are receiving treatment. Even so, terms like “life-sustaining treatment” can mean different things in different places. If you spend significant time in more than one state, the cleanest fix is to complete a separate advance directive for each.
After You Sign: Storing and Sharing It
A living will only works if the people who need it can find it quickly. Store the original in an accessible place at home, such as a clearly labeled folder. Avoid safe deposit boxes, which family members often cannot access on weekends, holidays, or during the kinds of emergencies when the document is actually needed.
Distribute copies to the people and institutions most likely to need them:
- Your primary care doctor, with a request that it be scanned into your electronic health record.
- Your preferred hospital, so it is on file before any emergency.
- Your healthcare proxy, along with a note telling them where the original is stored.
- Close family members who are not your proxy, so they at least know the document exists.
Some states operate electronic registries where you can upload your advance directive for quick access by healthcare providers, usually free or for a small fee. Check whether your state offers a registry through its Department of Health website.5National Institute on Aging. Advance Care Planning – Advance Directives for Health Care