Free Washington Living Will Form

In Washington, a living will form is a part of the Advance Directive, which allows adult residents to outline their end-of-life and life-sustaining wishes when they become incapable of formulating and expressing their treatment choices themselves.

The Washington Living Will, as a rule, is attached to the Medical Power of Attorney form, where the declarant is to select a trusted person to deal with medical decisions on the principal’s behalf. Both forms come into force when the principal is no longer capable of making conscious decisions relating to medical care and clearly expressing their wishes.

washington living will form

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Signing Requirements and Laws

According to RCW 70.122.030, only those residents who have come into the age of majority can and can comprehend every issue the document covers can create a Washington Living Will.

The document must be signed by the declarants themselves. At the moment of signing the paper, they are to be of sound mind and able to take a serious approach to making a choice of such nature. If the principle cannot execute the form themselves, they are to appoint a representative to sign the document on the declarant’s behalf.

As RCW 70.122.030 states, two people must be present while completing the living will. Besides that, they are to provide their signatures to make the form legal.

It is crucial to meet the following requirements regarding the selection of witnesses:

  • The witnesses must not be related to the principal by blood or marriage;
  • The witnesses are not to be entitled or will inherit any part of the estate from the principal, either by the declarant’s will or operation of law.
  • The principal must not be the witness’ patient or get any medical service from them while being a resident of a healthcare facility where the witness works.

As the law also maintains, after signing the document, you should have your form distributed to your physician, trusted relatives, and close friends. Besides the original version, all copies and updated versions of the document must be notarized. Another requirement is that the living will should be made a part of your medical records.

According to RCW 7.70.065, if the wishes and instructions expressed in the living will violate the physician’s principle, and they refuse to support the requests, they must inform the patient about it. The patient is allowed to decide whether to take the physician’s commentary into account or not.

Washington Living Will Form Details

Document Name Washington Living Will Form
State Form Name Washington Health Care Directive
Signing Requirements Two Witnesses or Notary Public
Validity Requirements Section 70.122.030(1)
Specific Powers Section 70.122.020(5)
Avg. Time to Fill Out 13 minutes
# of Fillable Fields 48
Available Formats Adobe PDF; Microsoft Word
State Laws: Washington Revised Code, Sections 70.122.010 to 70.122.925

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Steps to Fill Out the Form

If you want to complete the Washington Living Will form quickly without any problems, read the following comprehensive step-by-step instruction:

1. Download the Living Will Form

To complete the form, you can download it in a PDF format or open it in your browser and proceed to fill it out. You can use our convenient Online Forms Building Software to fill out the Living Will form. You are welcome to fill out the form online: insert the necessary information directly on the website without downloading the form and then either print it or send it via email.

2. Input Your Name in the Document

Write your full name if you want to express your desires concerning life-sustaining and end-of-life treatment and if you fully accept all the consequences of your refusal to get any medical help in case of incapacitation or irrevocable unconscious condition. You agree to every directive that is specified below.
Part for inputting name of Washington living will form

3. Leave Life-Sustaining Directives

The Washington Living Will allows you to give healthcare instructions that come into force when you are diagnosed to be in a permanent, incurable condition because of brain damage or incapacity of another nature by two qualified physicians. If there is no hope for improvement even though you are kept alive artificially be nutrition or respiratory machine or get medical aid in the form of blood transfusion, medication, surgery, or any other health care treatment, you can choose not to prolong your life and specify what kind of medical treatment you refuse to.
Life sustaining directives of living will for Washington

4. Read the Given Instructions Carefully

In the next several sections of the document, you need to read the information covering the following issues:

  • Medical treatment that helps to relieve pain or any other discomfort. If you do not make any changes regarding comfort care, according to the form, in emergency cases such as severe illnesses, incidents that have resulted in an incurable mental and physical state, you will be provided with any available medical treatment that is used to alleviate pain and discomfort even if it accelerates the process of dying.
  • Refusal to implement your medical instructions by a health care institution. If your directive is against the policy of a health care facility in which you are a patient, all your instructions will be handed over to another hospital or.” a medical institution that will agree to fulfill all your wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment.
  • Possibility to make any changes. According to this directive, you can make any changes in the form, add or delete instructions, or revoke the instructions entirely. When adding something to the document, you should consult the Washington State law to make it legal.

5. Give Instructions Regarding the Validity of the Document In Case You Are Pregnant

Unlike in many other states in which pregnancy is a condition under which the form has no force, in Washington, you can choose whether you want the document to remain in effect when you become pregnant or lose its force during the pregnancy period.
Section for information about pregnancy case of a Washington living will template

6. Add Other Instructions and Wishes

If you want to add some directives to the instructions above, you may indicate it and write your own instructions in the “Additional Directives” section.
Part for other instructions and wishes of Washington living will document

7. Provide Signatures

The document must be signed by the declarant and two competent witnesses and recognized by a notary public. If the principal has become incapable of signing themselves, the form is to be signed by the declarant’s representative. It is mandatory to input the witnesses’ names and contact information.
Signatures part of living will template for Washington


Published: Jul 29, 2022
Mara Erlach
Mara Erlach
Writer & Attorney
Mara has been practicing estate planning and trust law in California since 2003, taking pride in helping clients of all backgrounds and asset profiles form a complete and customized estate plan. Her specialties are: estate planning, wills and trusts, trust and probate administration.