Health care directive in Oklahoma: form, signing and who decides
The form, who can witness, who can be your agent and who decides if you have no directive in Oklahoma.
Checked against official sources: October 31, 2026.
Short answer
Advance Directive for Health Care (Living Will and appointment of a Health Care Proxy)
- Official form
- Advance Directive for Health Care
- How to sign
- Signed in front of two witnesses (no notary)
- Who decides without a directive
- Yes
The document and its form
- Document
- Advance Directive for Health Care (Living Will and appointment of a Health Care Proxy)
- Official form
- Advance Directive for Health Care (63 O.S. § 3101.4(C))Published by Oklahoma Legislature. The State Department of Health advance directives page does not post the form.Version: Statutory text as amended through Laws 2006, c. 171
You do not have to use it.
- Living will
Living Will (Part I of the Advance Directive for Health Care)
Part of the directive.
In the living will part you say whether you want life-sustaining treatment and tube feeding if you have a terminal condition, are persistently unconscious, or have an end-stage condition. If you are pregnant, life-sustaining treatment and nutrition are provided unless you specifically authorized otherwise in your own words.
Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.4(C)
Signing rules
- How to sign
Sign the advance directive in front of two qualified adult witnesses. A notary is not required for the advance directive. A separate health care power of attorney under the Oklahoma Health Care Agent Act may instead be signed in front of a notary public or two such witnesses.
- Who signs
Signed by you (the declarant).
- Notary
- Not required
- Witnesses
- 2
- Who cannot witness
Two witnesses, each 18 or older, who are not your legatees, devisees or heirs at law. The statutory form adds that witnesses must not be related to you and must not inherit from you.
Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.4(A), (C), 3111.3(G)
Who can be your agent and what the agent can do
- Who cannot be your agent
Under a health care power of attorney, unless related to you by blood, marriage or adoption, your agent may not be an owner, operator or employee of a residential long-term health care institution where you are receiving care.
Law: 63 O.S. § 3111.3(B)
- When the agent starts
The advance directive becomes operative when it is given to your attending physician and you can no longer make decisions about life-sustaining treatment; the form uses a finding by your attending physician and another physician. A health care power of attorney takes effect, unless it says otherwise, when your attending physician determines you lack capacity, and stops when you recover.
Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.4(C), 3101.5; 63 O.S. § 3111.3(C), (D)
- Decisions an agent cannot make
Tube feeding and fluids may be withheld or withdrawn only if the directive specifically authorizes it in the statutory form or in a separately initialed or signed part. A health care power of attorney under the Health Care Agent Act cannot authorize withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, nutrition or hydration (that must be done through the Advance Directive), but it can authorize the agent to sign a do-not-resuscitate consent.
Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.4(B); 63 O.S. §§ 3111.2(6), 3111.3(B)
Revoking and conflicting documents
- Revoking your agent
You can revoke your advance directive, in whole or in part, at any time and in any manner, whatever your mental or physical condition. The revocation takes effect when you or a witness to it tells your attending physician or other health care provider. For a health care power of attorney, you can revoke the agent's designation by a signed writing or by telling your health care provider, in any manner that shows your intent.
- Revoking your instructions
The same rule applies to the living will part.
- Telling others
The physician or provider must make the revocation part of your medical record. A provider or agent told of a revocation of a health care power of attorney must promptly tell the attending physician and any facility where you are receiving care.
- Divorce ends a spouse's authority
- Yes · Divorce rules in Oklahoma (Divorce Law Map)
- Conflicting documents
If more than one valid advance directive exists, the last one signed controls. A later health care power of attorney revokes an earlier one to the extent they conflict.
Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.5(B); 63 O.S. § 3111.4(D)
Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3101.6, 3111.4
If you have no directive
- Who decides without a directive
If you are persistently unconscious, incompetent or otherwise unable to communicate, a reasonably available and willing person in the highest class may make health care decisions; if those in a class disagree, the majority decides. Before deciding, the person must give the provider a signed statement that they have no disqualifying abuse, neglect or exploitation convictions, findings or charges.
- General guardian of the person, or limited guardian with medical decision authority
- Health care proxy or alternate proxy you named
- Attorney-in-fact under the Oklahoma Health Care Agent Act
- Spouse
- Adult children
- Parents
- Adult siblings
- Other adult relatives in order of kinship
- Close friends who kept regular contact and know your values (an affidavit is prima facie evidence)
Law: 63 O.S. §§ 3102.4, 3102.5
Other states, registry and medical orders
- Signed in another state
An advance directive signed in another state in compliance with that state's law or Oklahoma law is valid in Oklahoma to the extent Oklahoma law allows; it authorizes withholding tube feeding only if it says so specifically and either you were not an Oklahoma resident when you signed it or the authorization is in your own words or a separately marked part. A health care power of attorney in substantial compliance with the Health Care Agent Act is valid regardless of when or where it was signed.
Law: 63 O.S. § 3101.14; 63 O.S. § 3111.3(H)
- POLST (medical orders)
Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST), standardized form under the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment Act
- Mental health directive
An Advance Directive for Mental Health Treatment lets you give instructions and name an attorney-in-fact (18 or older) for mental health treatment. It must be signed by you and two capable witnesses 18 or older who attest that they know you and that you appeared capable and free of duress, and it must be notarized. Your attending physician or psychologist (or their employee) and an owner, operator or employee of a facility where you live or are treated may not serve as attorney-in-fact.
Law: 43A O.S. §§ 11-105, 11-106
Law: 63 O.S. § 3102.1; 63 O.S. §§ 3105.1-3105.5
Free notice: revoke or change a health care directive
Free help in Oklahoma
- Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma
- Oklahoma State Department of Health: Advance Directives
- Oklahoma Human Services: Report Abuse
- Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org
Report abuse or exploitation
Oklahoma Human Services, Adult Protective Services (Abuse and Neglect Hotline) · 1-800-522-3511
Questions about powers of attorney in Oklahoma
How do I sign a health care directive in Oklahoma?
Sign the advance directive in front of two qualified adult witnesses. A notary is not required for the advance directive. A separate health care power of attorney under the Oklahoma Health Care Agent Act may instead be signed in front of a notary public or two such witnesses.
Who decides my health care if I have no directive in Oklahoma?
If you are persistently unconscious, incompetent or otherwise unable to communicate, a reasonably available and willing person in the highest class may make health care decisions; if those in a class disagree, the majority decides.