Health care directive in Delaware: form, signing and who decides

The form, who can witness, who can be your agent and who decides if you have no directive in Delaware.

Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.

Short answer

Advance health-care directive (power of attorney for health care and/or health-care instruction)

Official form
Advance Health-Care Directive
How to sign
Signed in front of one witness (no notary)
Who decides without a directive
Yes

The document and its form

Document
Advance health-care directive (power of attorney for health care and/or health-care instruction)
Official form
Advance Health-Care Directive (Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities form; optional form in 16 Del. C. § 2511)Published by Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical DisabilitiesVersion: PDF file dated 9.14.26 (Delaware Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, effective September 30, 2025)

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Health-care instruction

Part of the directive.

Delaware calls written or spoken treatment wishes a 'health-care instruction'. It can be in the same document as the power of attorney for health care, and can cover life-sustaining treatment, pain relief, who should be consulted, and even who should be your guardian or default surrogate.

Law: 16 Del. C. § 2511; 16 Del. C. §§ 2507, 2511

Signing rules

How to sign

If you name an agent, sign the power of attorney for health care with one qualified adult witness. A health-care instruction on its own does not need a witness under the statute.

Who signs

Signed by you.

Notary
Not required
Witnesses
1
Who cannot witness

A power of attorney for health care needs one adult witness who reasonably believes you are acting voluntarily and knowingly. The witness cannot be your agent or your agent's spouse, domestic partner or cohabitant. If you live or get care in a nursing home or long-term care facility, the witness cannot be its owner, operator, employee or contractor.

Nursing facilities and special settings

In a nursing home or long-term care facility, the facility's owner, operator, employees and contractors cannot be your witness.

Law: 16 Del. C. § 2508(d)(4)

Electronic signing

The witness can be present in person, by real-time audio-video, or by real-time audio if the witness knows you or can confirm your identity. An advance health-care directive or its revocation cannot be denied effect just because it is electronic.

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2508(e), 2516(c)

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2507, 2508(d), (e)

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

A person cannot act as your health-care agent if a court finds they endanger your well-being; if they own, operate, work for or contract with a nursing home or long-term care facility where you live or get care (unless they are family, your cohabitant or the cohabitant's descendant); if you have a pending petition or an order for protection from abuse against them; or if they are subject to an order limiting contact with you.

Law: 16 Del. C. § 2508(b)

When the agent starts

The agent's power starts when you are found to lack capacity by a qualified professional's examination or by a court, and stops if you are later found to have capacity or you object to the finding. Your power of attorney can let the agent get your health information right away.

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2504, 2505, 2518(a), (c)

Decisions an agent cannot make

Without specific written authority in your directive, an agent cannot consent to voluntary admission to a mental health facility, and is limited in consenting to nursing home placement for more than 100 days. Special limits apply to stopping long-used artificial nutrition, hydration or ventilation for a person with a long-term disability.

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2518(e)-(g), 2519

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You can revoke the appointment of an agent at any time by any act that clearly shows you intend to revoke it, including telling a health-care professional, unless a court or a confirmed capacity finding says you lack capacity to revoke.

Revoking your instructions

A health-care instruction can be revoked in whole or part the same way. A later directive revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict.

Telling others

An agent or default surrogate who learns of a revocation must tell a responsible health-care professional as soon as reasonably feasible.

Divorce ends a spouse's authority
Yes · Divorce rules in Delaware (Divorce Law Map)
Conflicting documents

A later advance health-care directive revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict; special rules apply to a mental-health-only directive.

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2510, 2515(c)

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2515, 2517(e)

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

If you lack capacity and have no available agent or guardian with health-care authority, the first reasonably available, qualified person in this priority list can decide, unless your directive says otherwise. If members of the same class disagree, the provider follows the majority of that class. You can disqualify anyone in writing or by telling them or a provider.

  1. An adult you identified (not in a power of attorney) to make a decision for you
  2. Your spouse or domestic partner (not if divorce or separation has been filed or granted, you agreed in a record to separate, or they deserted you for more than a year)
  3. Your adult child or parent
  4. Your cohabitant
  5. Your adult brother or sister
  6. Your adult grandchild or grandparent
  7. An adult who routinely helped you with supported decision making in the past 6 months
  8. An adult stepchild you actively parented
  9. An adult who has shown special care and concern for you and knows your values

Law: 16 Del. C. §§ 2512, 2513, 2514

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

A directive made outside Delaware is valid if it follows the law of the state it names (or where it was made), or Delaware's chapter.

Law: 16 Del. C. § 2516(a)

POLST (medical orders)

Delaware Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment (DMOST)

Official page

Mental health directive

You can make an advance mental health-care directive covering only mental health care. If it says you cannot revoke it during a specified psychiatric episode, it must be a separate document signed by you and at least 2 adult witnesses who are physically present, attest you understood and acted voluntarily, and are not your agent, the agent's spouse, domestic partner or cohabitant, or (if you live in one) a nursing home or long-term care facility owner, operator, employee or contractor.

Law: 16 Del. C. § 2509

Free notice: revoke or change a health care directive

Names and addresses of people and facilities that should know. They go into your letter only.

Other formats

Sign the letter and keep a copy. This tool does not check whether your document is valid, and it is not legal advice.

Free help in Delaware

Report abuse or exploitation

Adult Protective Services, Division of Services for Aging and Adults with Physical Disabilities (DHSS) · 1-888-277-4302

Questions about powers of attorney in Delaware

How do I sign a health care directive in Delaware?

If you name an agent, sign the power of attorney for health care with one qualified adult witness. A health-care instruction on its own does not need a witness under the statute.

Who decides my health care if I have no directive in Delaware?

If you lack capacity and have no available agent or guardian with health-care authority, the first reasonably available, qualified person in this priority list can decide, unless your directive says otherwise. If members of the same class disagree, the provider follows the majority of that class.

More for Delaware