Oregon Living Will: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It's Not a Separate Form

If you search for "Oregon living will," you'll find the state doesn't actually have a standalone living will document. Oregon consolidates your treatment preferences and your healthcare representative appointment into a single statutory form — the Advance Directive (Form OHA 3905), governed by ORS 127.505 to 127.660.

This catches people off guard, especially those who've lived in states where a living will and a medical power of attorney are separate documents. Here's how Oregon's unified system works.

What a "Living Will" Means in Oregon

In most states, a living will is a document where you state your preferences for life-sustaining treatment if you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious. Oregon absorbs this function into Sections 3 and 4 of the Advance Directive.

Section 3 (Health Care Instructions) covers three specific clinical states:

• Terminal condition: death expected within six months
• Advanced progressive illness: a serious, incurable condition causing severe disability
• Permanent unconsciousness: no reasonable chance of regaining awareness

For each state, you choose whether to withhold life support, receive all available treatments, receive only artificial nutrition and hydration, or defer the decision to your Health Care Representative.

Section 4 (Additional Instructions) is where you can write detailed quality-of-life values, spiritual preferences, and specific scenarios — like your wishes around dementia care or organ donation.

Why Oregon Combined Everything Into One Form

Senate Bill 199 (effective 2022) updated the statutory Advance Directive to ensure all end-of-life planning components work together in a single, legally binding document. The practical benefits:

• No conflicting instructions. In states with separate documents, a living will might say "no ventilator" while a medical power of attorney gives your agent broad authority. Oregon eliminates that gap.
• One set of witnesses. You only need two qualified witnesses or a notary once, not for each document.
• Simpler for hospitals. Medical staff look at one form instead of reconciling multiple documents with potentially different dates and instructions.

The trade-off: Oregon's form is 11 pages long, and the legal language can be intimidating without guidance.

Sections 3 and 4 Are Optional — But You Should Fill Them Out

The Advance Directive is legally valid even if you only complete the Health Care Representative appointment (Section 2) and signature/witness sections. But skipping Sections 3 and 4 means your representative has no written guidance on your preferences.

Without documented wishes, your HCR must make gut-level decisions during emotionally charged moments — and other family members may challenge those decisions. Writing specific instructions reduces conflict and gives your representative legal backing for their choices.

Consider documenting:

• Whether you want CPR attempted if your heart stops
• Your position on mechanical ventilation and feeding tubes
• Comfort care preferences (pain management over life extension)
• Cultural or religious practices you want honored
• Specific conditions under which you would not want aggressive treatment

How the Advance Directive Gets Signed

Your completed directive needs your signature (Section 5) plus one of these:

• Two adult witnesses sign Section 6 — one can be a relative, but the second must be impartial (unrelated, not in your will, not your healthcare provider or facility employee)
• A notary public notarizes your signature

The notary route avoids witness logistics entirely, but costs a notary fee (typically $10-$25 per signature in Oregon).

Don't Use Out-of-State Living Will Templates

National legal document websites often generate a standalone "Oregon Living Will" that separates treatment instructions from the healthcare representative appointment. These templates frequently miss Oregon's specific requirements:

• The post-SB 199 form format and section numbering
• Oregon's dual-witness rules under ORS 127.515
• The requirement that your representative sign Section 7 (Acceptance) for the appointment to take effect

A form that doesn't match the statutory format can be challenged by a hospital's legal team — exactly the situation you're trying to prevent.

What Happens to an Old Living Will

If you previously executed a living will or advance directive under Oregon's pre-2022 rules, it may still be valid. But executing a new Advance Directive automatically revokes any prior version. There's no need to formally cancel the old one — the newest valid directive controls.

One exception: divorce or legal separation automatically revokes your ex-spouse or former domestic partner as your Health Care Representative. If you want them to remain in that role, you must execute a completely new directive after the divorce is finalized.

Complete Your Oregon Advance Directive

The Oregon Advance Directive & Living Will Kit translates all 11 pages of Form OHA 3905 into plain-language instructions, walks you through the witness selection process, and includes a distribution checklist for getting copies to your doctor, your representative, and your MyChart portal.

See more Oregon guides →