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Living Wills Form

Use a Living Wills Form template to make your document workflow more streamlined.

What a living wills form does

A Living Wills Form records a person’s instructions about certain medical treatment if the person later cannot communicate. In the United States, it is generally an advance directive governed primarily by state law, not a last will and testament. The signer states treatment preferences, identifies the intended decision-making context, and signs under applicable witness or notary rules. Uploading the form to signNow can organize fields, route it for signature, and preserve a completed copy with an audit trail, but it does not replace state-law execution requirements or legal advice.

Who uses a living wills form

Individuals and families

Individuals and families use a Living Wills Form to record treatment preferences for future incapacity. Review state execution rules before signing, and use signNow to route the approved document, capture signatures, and retain the completed record.

Healthcare and legal teams

Healthcare providers and legal teams use approved Living Wills Forms for advance-directive workflows. They can manage consent records, preserve audit evidence, and restrict access, while applying state law and HIPAA obligations to the underlying information.

How the living wills workflow works

The signNow workflow prepares the approved Living Wills Form without changing its state-specific instructions or execution requirements.

  • Upload form: Upload the approved form PDF.
  • Detect fields: Auto-detect and review fillable fields.
  • Assign signer: Add signer details and required fields.
  • Complete record: Send, sign, and preserve the audit trail.
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Complete a living wills form online

Use signNow to prepare the Living Wills Form, route it to the signer, and preserve the completed record with its signing history.

  • Upload form:

    Upload the completed Living Wills Form PDF.
  • Check fields:

    Review detected fields and add missing signature areas.
  • Send document:

    Send the form to the intended signer.
  • Archive records:

    Store the signed copy and audit trail.

Audit trail details for living wills

The audit trail documents how the Living Wills Form moved from preparation through signing, helping preserve evidence of the completed transaction.

01

Signer authentication:

Records the signer’s authentication event.
02

Timestamp capture:

Captures the signing event’s date and time.
03

Document hashing:

Associates document content with a hash.
04

Tamper sealing:

Seals completed pages against later alteration.
05

Event history:

Records signer actions and document events.
06

Trail export:

Allows audit-trail retrieval and export.

Recommended living wills setup

Prepare the approved state-specific form first, then configure signing, evidence, security, and retention around its execution requirements.

SettingRecommendation
Authentication methodEmail link with SMS OTP
Signature typeElectronic signature where state law permits
Audit trailExport with the completed PDF
Document retentionFollow state and healthcare policy
EncryptionAES-256 at rest and TLS in transit

Security controls for living wills

Stored data:

AES-256 protects stored documents

Data in transit:

TLS protects data in transit

Security reporting:

SOC 2 Type II report available

Information security:

ISO 27001 certified information security

Privacy controls:

GDPR supports privacy obligations

Health information:

HIPAA compliance requires a BAA

Best practices for living wills

A careful workflow helps preserve the signer’s treatment preferences while respecting state-specific witness, notarization, and document-scope requirements.

Confirm state execution requirements

Confirm the form matches the signer’s state requirements before sending. Living wills and advance directives can require specific witnesses, notarization, or approved language under state law. Ask the signer’s attorney or state authority to confirm execution requirements before relying on an electronic workflow.

Verify signer identity details

Use the signer’s legal name and current contact details throughout the Living Wills Form. Compare the entered information with identification before sending, because an incorrect identity record can create questions about attribution, consent, and whether the signer intended to execute the document.

Keep excluded documents separate

Separate healthcare instructions from unrelated estate documents. A living will communicates treatment preferences, while wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts fall within ESIGN exceptions. Do not combine those documents in one signing package without legal review of each document’s execution rules.

Preserve each executed version

Download the completed Living Wills Form and audit trail after signing. Store both records in a restricted location, preserve the final PDF without editing, and record any later state-law update as a new version rather than overwriting the original.

State rules and exclusions

State law

Confirm state rules

Witness failure

Execution may be invalid

Notarization

Notary may be required

Wills and codicils

Excluded from ESIGN

Court documents

Separate court filings

Troubleshooting living wills workflows

These answers address execution limits, state-law requirements, health-information handling, and signNow plan features relevant to a Living Wills Form.

A Living Wills Form is an advance directive, while wills, codicils, and testamentary trusts are excluded from ESIGN under 15 U.S.C. §7003. Use signNow only for documents that state law permits to be executed electronically, and obtain legal review when the package includes excluded testamentary documents.

The Business plan includes templates, audit trails, mobile apps, and legally binding eSignatures at $8 per user per month when billed annually. It does not establish whether a state requires witnesses or notarization for a Living Wills Form.

If the form requires a notary or witnesses, configure the workflow around that requirement rather than assuming an electronic signature is sufficient. State execution rules control whether the Living Wills Form can be relied on after signing.

Healthcare organizations handling protected health information should confirm whether a business associate agreement is required. signNow states that HIPAA compliance requires a BAA; the platform does not decide whether your Living Wills Form contains PHI.

A signer can use signNow’s mobile apps to review and sign, subject to the organization’s device and network policies. Camera capture can create a PDF, but review the captured Living Wills Form for missing pages or unreadable instructions.

The Business Premium plan adds bulk send and costs $15 per user per month when billed annually. Bulk sending is relevant only when an organization sends the same approved form repeatedly; it does not authorize changing state-specific living-will language.

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