{"id":375449,"date":"2016-03-31T21:36:12","date_gmt":"2016-04-01T02:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/state\/north-carolina-law\/north-carolina-living-wills-laws.html"},"modified":"2016-06-20T19:50:20","modified_gmt":"2016-06-21T00:50:20","slug":"north-carolina-living-wills-laws","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/state\/north-carolina-law\/north-carolina-living-wills-laws.html","title":{"rendered":"North Carolina Living Wills Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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North Carolina Living Wills Laws<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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The last updated date refers to the last time this article was reviewed by FindLaw or one of our contributing authors<\/a>. We make every effort to keep our articles updated. For information regarding a specific legal issue affecting you, please contact an attorney in your area<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/details>\n<\/section>\n

A living will<\/a> is technically not a will, but a legally binding document in which the signee declares how he or she would like to be treated in case of a medical emergency. For instance, you may state in your living will that you do not want to be kept alive through artificial respirators. North Carolina living will laws allow a patient who is either terminal or who is in a persistent vegetative state to decline "extraordinary means" to keep that person alive. The wishes stated in a living will typically are carried out by another individual through a durable power of attorney.<\/p>\n

Learn about the finer points of North Carolina’s living will laws in the box below. See FindLaw’s Living Wills<\/a> section for more information.<\/p>\n\n
Code Section<\/td>\n90-320, et seq. Right to Natural Death<\/td>\n<\/tr>
Specific Powers, Life-Prolonging Acts<\/td>\nDeclarant may instruct attending physicians to withhold extraordinary means to keep declarant alive whose condition is either terminal and incurable or who is in a persistent vegetative state as confirmed in writing by second physician which would only serve to postpone artificially the moment of death by sustaining, restoring, or supplanting a vital function<\/td>\n<\/tr>
Legal Requirements for Valid Living Will<\/td>\n(1) Signed; (2) in the presence of 2 witnesses who believe declarant is of sound mind; (3) dated; (4) notarized or proved before a clerk; (5) specific form \u00a790-321(a)<\/td>\n<\/tr>
Revocation of Living Will<\/td>\nRevocable in any manner by which declarant is able to communicate his intent to revoke without regard for mental or physical state-effective upon communication to physician<\/td>\n<\/tr>
Validity from State-to-State<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>
If Physician Unwilling to Follow Durable Power of Attorney<\/td>\n–<\/td>\n<\/tr>
Immunity for Attending Physician<\/td>\nWithholding or discontinuing of extraordinary means shall not be considered cause of death for civil or criminal purposes. These provisions may be asserted as a defense to any civil or criminal suits or charges filed against a health care provider<\/td>\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n

Note:<\/i><\/b> State laws are constantly changing — contact a North Carolina estate planning attorney<\/a> or conduct your own legal research to verify the state law(s) you are researching.<\/i><\/p>\n

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