Use Signature Notifications For Legal California Life Documents New Residents Forms For Free

The form must be signed by two qualified witnesses or acknowledged before a notary public. Give a copy of the signed and completed form to your physician, to any other health care providers you may have, to any health care institution at which you are receiving care, and to any health care agents you have named.

To make valid in California, your Advance Directive must be signed by two witnesses, OR acknowledged before a Notary Public. An Advance Directive lets you have a say about how you want to be treated if you get very sick.

An advance health care directive lets your physician, family, and friends know your health care preferences, including the types of special treatment you want or don't want at the end of life, your desire for diagnostic testing, surgical procedures, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and organ donation.

Advance directives are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes. The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.

Whether or not your home state calls for an official notarization by a notary public, every state in the U.S. requires your advance directive to be signed by witnesses. Some states require both witnesses and notary publics to sign advance directives.

Statute: Advance Directives The law that establishes advance directives in California is the Health Care Decisions Act. It is based on the Uniform Law Comission's Uniform Health Care Decisions Act. It is in the California Probate Code, at Sections 4670 through 4806.