Health care directive in Minnesota: form, signing and who decides
The form, who can witness, who can be your agent and who decides if you have no directive in Minnesota.
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Short answer
Health Care Directive
- Official form
- Health Care Directive
- How to sign
- Notarized or signed by two adult witnesses
The document and its form
- Document
- Health Care Directive
- Official form
- Health Care Directive (suggested form, Minn. Stat. 145C.16)Published by Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes
You do not have to use it.
- Living will
Health care instructions
Part of the directive.
Minnesota uses one health care directive for both naming an agent and giving instructions. Older living wills made under chapter 145B remain recognized.
Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 145C.05, 145C.16; Minn. Stat. §§ 145C.02, 145C.07 subd. 4
Signing rules
- How to sign
The directive must be in writing, dated, state your name, and be signed by you. Your signature must be verified either by a notary public or by two adult witnesses. It must include health care instructions, an agent, or both.
- Who signs
Signed by you, or by another person you authorize to sign for you. It must be dated.
- Notary
- A notary or witnesses (your choice)
- Witnesses
- 2 (instead of a notary)
- Who cannot witness
Your health care agent or alternate agent cannot be a witness or the notary. At least one witness cannot be a health care provider giving you direct care, or an employee of one, on the day you sign. Witnesses must be at least 18. A notary may be an employee of your health care provider.
Law: Minn. Stat. §§ 145C.03, 145C.16
Who can be your agent and what the agent can do
- Who cannot be your agent
Your attending health care provider, or an employee of that provider (on the day you sign or the day decisions are needed), cannot be your agent unless related to you by blood, marriage, registered domestic partnership or adoption, or unless your directive says otherwise. A person you name to judge your capacity cannot be your agent.
Law: Minn. Stat. 145C.03 subd. 2
- When the agent starts
The agent decides only when your attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse or physician assistant finds you lack decision-making capacity, and stops if you recover it, unless your directive sets other conditions. You can let your agent decide even while you still have capacity.
Law: Minn. Stat. 145C.05 subd. 2(c), 145C.06, 145C.07
- Decisions an agent cannot make
Your agent must act in good faith and within your directive. The agent has the same right as you to see your medical records and may visit you, unless you say otherwise.
Law: Minn. Stat. 145C.07, 145C.08
Revoking and conflicting documents
- Revoking your agent
You can revoke all or part of your directive at any time by destroying it (or having someone destroy it in your presence) with intent to revoke, by a signed and dated written statement, by saying you revoke it in front of two witnesses (they need not be present at the same time), or by signing a new directive that conflicts with it.
- Revoking your instructions
The same methods revoke your instructions.
- Telling others
Tell your agent and your health care providers and give them the new or revoking document.
- Divorce ends a spouse's authority
- Yes · Divorce rules in Minnesota (Divorce Law Map)
- Conflicting documents
If documents conflict, the most recently signed one controls, but only to the extent of the conflict.
Law: Minn. Stat. 145C.07 subd. 4
Law: Minn. Stat. § 145C.09
Other states, registry and medical orders
- Signed in another state
A directive made in another state is valid in Minnesota if it complies with that state's law or with Minnesota's requirements.
Law: Minn. Stat. 145C.04
- Mental health directive
A health care directive can include a declaration about intrusive mental health treatment under Minn. Stat. 253B.03, subd. 6d, or authorize your agent to consent for you under 253B.04.
Law: Minn. Stat. 145C.05 subd. 2(a)(6)
Free notice: revoke or change a health care directive
Free help in Minnesota
- LawHelpMN (legal aid directory)
- Minnesota Department of Health: Health Care Directives information bulletin
- Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org
Report abuse or exploitation
Minnesota Adult Abuse Reporting Center (MAARC), 24 hours a day · 1-844-880-1574
Questions about powers of attorney in Minnesota
How do I sign a health care directive in Minnesota?
The directive must be in writing, dated, state your name, and be signed by you. Your signature must be verified either by a notary public or by two adult witnesses. It must include health care instructions, an agent, or both.