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Choose your Washington health care directive options

Make your health care wishes known so you stay in control of your treatment with a health care directive. Ensure comprehensive protection for you and your loved ones and secure your future with an estate planning forms package.

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Health Care Directive

Customize a health care directive to suit your needs

$49
What’s included:
What’s included
Step-by-step guided process
A health care directive tailored to your needs
Attorney-approved document compliant with your state’s laws
Free HIPAA release form
Free changes and revisions for up to one year after purchase

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Estate Planning Package

All the forms you need to create a personal estate plan

$189
What’s included:
What’s included
Last will and testament
Health care directive
Power of attorney
Free HIPAA release form
A comprehensive plan — for less
Free changes and revisions for up to one year after purchase
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Why create a health care directive in Washington?

A Washington health care directive allows family members and health care workers to know your medical treatment preferences if you ever become incapacitated. With a health care directive, you can leave individual instructions about the types of end-of-life care and life-sustaining treatments you would like to receive. FindLaw has made the process simple, quick, and effective, so there is no reason not to have one.

FindLaw provides everything you need:

Last updated: February 01, 2022

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Written by:

Linda Long, J.D.

Contributing Author

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Reviewed by:

Tim Kelly, J.D.

Contributing Author

How it works

The process takes less than an hour, and you can complete it from the comfort of your home.

Create an account

Create a secure account which is accessible through an easy dashboard you can access any time

Gather information

Decide who will be your health care agent/proxy, which treatments you would request or refuse and release your records

Complete your document

Answer all questions, then we’ll generate your digital documents for downloading, printing, and signing

Make it legal

Print and sign your document according to instructions. Give copies to your doctors and agent/proxy

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Plan for your future with confidence

This free guide will help you:

  • Learn the most common estate planning terms

  • Understand the essential estate planning tools

  • Gather critical information with an estate planning checklist

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What’s next to make my Washington health care directive valid?

Follow these steps:

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Decide what kind of care and treatment you will receive

Suppose you are diagnosed with a terminal illness or become permanently unconscious. In that case, you will not be able to make your own choices about medical care. To adequately prepare for a time when you are incapacitated, you must consider the following medical treatment preferences:

  • The use or withdrawal of life support
  • The use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation
  • Life-prolonging procedures
  • Pain management treatments
  • Life-support treatment
  • Life-prolonging treatment
  • Admittance to a long-term facility
  • Admittance to an adult care facility
  • Surgical treatment
Next Step

Choose an agent

You must choose a person to act as your health care agent. This is the person you trust to advocate for you and ensure that your wishes are honored. Your agent must be an adult. They should know you well enough to make medical decisions for you.

The role of a health care agent in advance care planning is vital because this person serves as your voice. In the absence of explicit instructions, your health care agent may have to make decisions on your behalf even if you do not leave an advance directive.

Next Step Previous Step

Sign and notarize

Sign your advance directive in front of two adult witnesses and have it notarized.

Previous Step

Frequently asked questions about Washington health care directives

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In Washington state, the requirements for a legally valid health care directive include:

  • The person making a health care directive be at least 18 years old
  • The person making a health care directive must be of sound mind
  • Two witnesses must see the person sign their health care directive
  • The witnesses must not be related to the person making a health care directive, and they cannot benefit from the health care directive
A health care directive is a legal document that states a patient’s medical preferences. It is only effective once a person becomes unable to speak or communicate their medical treatment preferences due to some sort of permanent incapacity.

Your health care values are your medical treatment preferences. You are the ultimate decision-maker in your medical care decisions. You must consider your stance on the following:

    • Life-sustaining treatment
    • Types of treatment
    • Hospice care facilities
    • Long-term care facilities
    • Life-prolonging treatment
    • Natural death
    • Life-prolonging acts withdrawal
    • Wishes about resuscitation
    • Withdrawal of life support

An important part of advance care planning is choosing a health care agent, also known as a health care proxy. Your health care agent is responsible for making your medical wishes known and ensuring that your treatment preferences are honored. The health care proxy should know your health care values.

Yes, you can still make your own decisions. The provisions in the advance directive are only applicable once you are diagnosed with a terminal condition or deemed by two physicians to be in a permanent unconscious condition. The only time that an advance directive will take effect is when you cannot make decisions for yourself.

Also, you can change your health care directive at any time. However, be sure to forward a copy of the new health care directive to the health care facility where you will be treated, as well as to your health care proxy and close family.

Advance directives should be written by anyone that wants to remain in control of their medical treatment preferences in the event they become incapacitated. Each of us must be able to advocate for ourselves when it comes to health care. An advance directive allows us to remain in control even when we cannot speak.

Make sure that a copy of your advance care directive is a part of your medical record. Ensure that you have a copy for yourself and another for your health care agent. If you decide to change your advance directive, be sure to make the updated version available to your health care team and your health care agent right away.

You may want to speak with a lawyer if:

  • Your family disagrees with your medical choices
  • You don’t know who to appoint as your agent
  • You have questions about life prolonging measures
  • You want legal review of your completed document
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