Health care directive in Maine: form, signing and who decides
The form, who can witness, who can be your agent and who decides if you have no directive in Maine.
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Short answer
Advance health care directive
- Official form
- Advance Health Care Directive
- How to sign
- Signed in front of two witnesses (no notary)
- Who decides without a directive
- Yes
The document and its form
- Document
- Advance health care directive
- Official form
- Advance Health Care Directive (optional form in 18-C M.R.S. § 5-805)Published by Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of StatutesVersion: Statutory text, PL 2017, c. 402 (effective September 1, 2019)
You do not have to use it.
- Living will
Individual instructions (Part 2 of the Advance Health Care Directive)
Part of the directive.
Maine does not use a separate living will form. You write your wishes about life-prolonging treatment, artificial nutrition and hydration and pain relief in Part 2 of the advance health care directive. You can give individual instructions even if you do not name an agent.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-805; 18-C M.R.S. §§ 5-803(1), 5-805
Signing rules
- How to sign
Sign the power of attorney for health care in person and have 2 witnesses sign it. Individual instructions (your treatment wishes) can be written or oral; an oral instruction counts only if made to a health care provider or to a person who could be your surrogate.
- Who signs
Signed by you. If you are isolated with an infectious disease in a hospital or residential health care facility, you can direct someone outside the isolation area in the same facility to sign for you, using two-way audio-video if needed.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803-A
- Notary
- Not required
- Witnesses
- 2
- Who cannot witness
A power of attorney for health care must be signed by you and 2 witnesses. The statute does not list people who are disqualified from witnessing.
- Nursing facilities and special settings
Remote signing by a person you direct, with witnesses by two-way audio-video, is allowed only when you are confined to an isolation area for an infectious disease in a hospital or residential health care facility.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803-A
- Electronic signing
Signatures of the principal and the witnesses on a power of attorney for health care must be made in person, not by electronic means, even though other laws allow electronic signatures.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803(2)
Law: 18-C M.R.S. §§ 5-803(1), (2), 5-803-A
Who can be your agent and what the agent can do
- Who cannot be your agent
Unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, your agent cannot be an owner, operator or employee of a residential long-term health care institution where you are receiving care.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803(2)
- When the agent starts
Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent's authority starts only when it is determined that you lack capacity and stops when you recover capacity. Unless your directive says otherwise, your primary physician or a court makes that determination.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803(3), (4)
- Decisions an agent cannot make
The agent must decide according to your individual instructions and other known wishes, and otherwise in your best interest considering your personal values.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803(5)
Revoking and conflicting documents
- Revoking your agent
You can revoke your choice of agent only by a signed writing or by personally telling your supervising health care provider.
- Revoking your instructions
You can revoke the rest of the directive at any time and in any manner that shows you want to revoke it.
- Telling others
A health care provider, agent, guardian or surrogate who learns of the revocation must promptly tell your supervising health care provider and any health care institution where you are receiving care.
- Divorce ends a spouse's authority
- Yes · Divorce rules in Maine (Divorce Law Map)
- Conflicting documents
A newer advance health care directive revokes an older one to the extent they conflict.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-804(5)
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-804
If you have no directive
- Who decides without a directive
If your primary physician determines you lack capacity and you have no agent or guardian (or they are not reasonably available), a reasonably available family member in this priority order can act as your surrogate. A surrogate can decide to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment only if you are in a terminal condition or persistent vegetative state, and cannot refuse lifesaving, medically necessary surgery or procedures. You can disqualify anyone by a signed writing or by telling your supervising provider.
- Your spouse, unless legally separated
- An adult who shares an emotional, physical and financial relationship with you similar to a spouse
- An adult child
- A parent
- An adult brother or sister
- An adult grandchild
- An adult niece or nephew
- An adult aunt or uncle
- Any other adult relative who knows your personal values
- If none is reasonably available, an adult who has shown special concern for you and knows your personal values
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-806
Other states, registry and medical orders
- Signed in another state
A directive is valid in Maine if it complies with Maine law, wherever and whenever it was made, or if it is valid under the law of the state where it was signed.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803(8)
- Mental health directive
An advance health care directive can direct mental health treatment. Capacity for such a directive can also be determined by a person qualified to examine under Title 34-B, section 3863.
Law: 18-C M.R.S. § 5-803(4), (9)
Free notice: revoke or change a health care directive
Free help in Maine
- Legal Services for Maine Elders (helpline for people 60 and older) · 1-800-750-5353
- Pine Tree Legal Assistance
- Maine Probate Courts: official probate forms (Title 18-C)
- Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C, Article 5 (guardianship, health care decisions, power of attorney)
- Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org
Report abuse or exploitation
Maine DHHS Office of Aging and Disability Services, Adult Protective Services · 1-800-624-8404
Questions about powers of attorney in Maine
How do I sign a health care directive in Maine?
Sign the power of attorney for health care in person and have 2 witnesses sign it. Individual instructions (your treatment wishes) can be written or oral; an oral instruction counts only if made to a health care provider or to a person who could be your surrogate.
Who decides my health care if I have no directive in Maine?
If your primary physician determines you lack capacity and you have no agent or guardian (or they are not reasonably available), a reasonably available family member in this priority order can act as your surrogate.