How to Make a Living Will in Pennsylvania: Requirements and Signing Rules

You don't need a lawyer to make a living will in Pennsylvania. Under Chapter 54 of the Consolidated Statutes, any competent adult can execute a legally binding advance directive with two witnesses and a pen. But the execution requirements have specific traps that invalidate documents every day.

Legal Requirements Under Chapter 54

Pennsylvania's Advance Directive for Health Care Act (20 Pa.C.S. § 5401 et seq.) sets these minimum requirements:

1. You must be a competent adult — 18 or older, and capable of understanding what you're signing
2. Your signature — or, if physically unable to sign, someone may sign at your express direction in your presence
3. Two adult witnesses — each must be at least 18 years old
4. Written form — oral living wills are not recognized in Pennsylvania

That's it for legal validity. Pennsylvania does not require notarization, attorney involvement, or filing with any government agency.

Do You Need a Notary?

No — but you should get one anyway. Here's why:

Pennsylvania law is clear that a healthcare advance directive is valid with only two witnesses. However, notarization provides three practical benefits:

Cross-state recognition. If you're hospitalized in another state, a notarized document is accepted faster. Many states require notarization for their own advance directives, and out-of-state hospitals apply their own state's rules by default.

Hospital compliance speed. Risk-averse hospital administrators and ethics committees accept notarized documents with fewer questions. An unnotarized document may trigger internal review — burning time during a medical emergency.

Financial POA coordination. If you're also executing a financial power of attorney (which requires notarization under Chapter 56), doing both at the same signing ceremony is more efficient.

Who Can Witness Your Living Will

Pennsylvania's witness rules are strict on who cannot serve:

• Your designated healthcare agent
• Anyone signing the document on your behalf
• Employees of the healthcare facility where you're being treated (during an active admission)

The law does not disqualify family members from being witnesses, though some practitioners recommend using non-relatives to reduce any appearance of undue influence.

Good witness choices: neighbors, coworkers, church members, or friends who are not named in your estate documents.

The Signing Ceremony: Step by Step

Before the ceremony:

• Complete all sections of the advance directive form
• Confirm your two witnesses are available and meet the qualifications
• Schedule a notary appointment if you're adding optional notarization

During the ceremony:

1. Review the completed document one final time
2. Sign and date the directive in the presence of both witnesses
3. Each witness signs the attestation clause
4. If using a notary, the notary adds their acknowledgment and seal
5. The notary does not need to witness your signature — they acknowledge it after you sign

After the ceremony:

• Make at least four copies
• Distribute to your healthcare agent, successor agent, primary care physician, and a trusted family member
• Request your physician upload it to your electronic health record
• Keep the original in an accessible location (not a safe deposit box — no one can access it during an emergency)

What Makes a Pennsylvania Living Will Invalid

Witness fails the qualification test. If either witness is your healthcare agent, the document is defective.

Signed under duress or incapacity. If someone challenges the directive and can show you lacked mental capacity or were coerced when signing, a court can void it.

Superseded by a newer document. Executing a new advance directive automatically revokes the previous one. Make sure you're not accidentally creating a duplicate that confuses providers.

Oral revocation without follow-through. You can verbally revoke your living will at any time, but if providers still have the old document on file, they'll follow it. Written revocation distributed to all holders is the safer path.

What Your Living Will Actually Controls

A Pennsylvania living will only becomes active when your physician certifies both that you lack capacity AND that you have either:

• An end-stage medical condition — an incurable, irreversible condition that will cause death in a relatively short period
• Permanent unconsciousness — an irreversible vegetative state

If you're incapacitated but not terminal (for example, severe dementia in its middle stages), your living will does not activate. Your healthcare agent makes decisions instead — which is why having both components of the combined advance directive matters.

The Pennsylvania Advance Directive & Living Will Kit provides pre-formatted signing ceremony instructions, witness qualification checklists, and a distribution tracker to make sure every copy reaches the right hands.

See more Pennsylvania guides →