Free Missouri Living Will Form

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A Missouri living will is a written declaration telling your doctor which life-prolonging treatments to withhold if you have a terminal condition and cannot decide for yourself. Missouri law lets you put these wishes in writing ahead of time. FormsPal's builder adds a durable power of attorney for health care to the same document, letting you name someone to make other medical decisions for you. The form is free to create, download, and print.

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Signing Requirements and Laws

Missouri’s living will law is Mo. Rev. Stat. §§ 459.010 to 459.055. To be valid, your declaration must be in writing, signed by you or by someone you direct in your presence, and dated.[1]

To be valid under Missouri law, your living will must meet these requirements:

  • It must be in writing.[1]
  • You sign it yourself, or someone else signs it in your presence and at your direction.[1]
  • It must be dated.[1]
  • If the document is not entirely in your own handwriting, you must sign it in the presence of two witnesses who are at least eighteen years old. Neither witness can be the person who signed on your behalf.[1]

It is the declarant’s own responsibility to provide notification to the attending physician of the existence of the declaration, so give your doctor a signed copy once you finish it. If you ask, your physician and any hospital where you are a patient must place it in your medical records.[1]

“The declarant is known to me, is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and voluntarily signed this document in my presence.”

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 459.015, the witness statement your witnesses sign[1]

Missouri Living Will Form Details

Document Name Missouri Living Will Form
Signing Requirements Two Witnesses
Validity Requirements Section 459.015
Avg. Time to Fill Out 13 minutes
# of Fillable Fields 48
Available Formats Adobe PDF; Microsoft Word
State Laws: Missouri Revised Statutes, Sections 459.010 to 459.055

Template Preview
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Steps to Fill Out the Form

The screenshots under each step show the FormsPal Missouri living will template filled with sample entries in blue, so you can see where each answer goes. The names, addresses, dates and amounts are examples only.

To complete the Missouri living will form, you fill out your treatment wishes and appoint a health care agent on pages 1 through 4. Then you sign the document and have two witnesses complete the witness acknowledgment on page 8. The form has no notary block, so notarizing it is not part of the process.

  1. Download the form. Get the printable living will from our website, or use our online builder to fill it out on screen.
  2. Read the general information (page 1). Review the page explaining what the agent named later in the form can and cannot do before you fill anything in.
    Missouri living will: general information
    Step 2: the part of the living will this step covers.
  3. Complete the declaration (page 2). Enter the date, your name, and your address. Then initial each life-sustaining treatment you want withheld, such as CPR, artificial nutrition and hydration, ventilation, dialysis, transfusions, or organ transplants.
    Missouri living will: declaration and treatments to refuse, filled with sample entries
    Step 3: sample entries, not a real living will.
  4. Initial the end-of-life conditions (page 2). Initial the conditions under which your wishes apply, such as an inability to communicate, a terminal condition, or a physician-confirmed vegetative state.
    Missouri living will: end of life care conditions, filled with sample entries
    Step 4: sample entries, not a real living will.
  5. Add additional instructions (page 3, optional). Use the blank lines to write any other health care wishes you want on record.
    Missouri living will: additional instructions, filled with sample entries
    Step 5: sample entries, not a real living will.
  6. Appoint your agent (page 3). Enter the name, address, and phone number of the person you want to make other medical decisions for you.
    Missouri living will: health care agent, filled with sample entries
    Step 6: sample entries, not a real living will.
  7. Name a substitute agent (page 4). Enter a second person’s name, address, and phone number in case your first choice cannot serve.
    Missouri living will: substitute agent, filled with sample entries
    Step 7: sample entries, not a real living will.
  8. Sign and date the document (page 8). Sign, print your name, and date the form in the “In Witness Whereof” block.
    Missouri living will: sign and date, filled with sample entries
    Step 8: sample entries, not a real living will.
  9. Complete the witness acknowledgment (page 8). Have two witnesses each print their name and address. Then have them sign and date the declaration in your presence.
    Missouri living will: witness acknowledgment, filled with sample entries
    Step 9: sample entries, not a real living will.

How to Create a Living Will in Missouri

You create a Missouri living will by putting your treatment wishes in writing and dating it. You sign it yourself, or someone else signs it in your presence and at your direction. If it is not entirely in your own handwriting, two adult witnesses must watch you sign it, and neither one can be the person who signed on your behalf. Once it is signed, tell your physician it exists and ask for a copy in your medical records.[1]

Example: Completing a Missouri Living Will

Anna Baker of Springfield, Missouri fills out her declaration, listing the life-prolonging treatments she wants withheld if she has a terminal condition and cannot decide for herself. She signs and dates the form, and two adult neighbors, neither of whom is her named agent, watch her sign and complete the witness acknowledgment.[1] Anna keeps the original at home, gives a copy to her physician, and gives another to the agent she named to handle other medical decisions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The most common mistakes with a Missouri living will are leaving out the date, using only one witness instead of two, and letting the person who signed on your behalf also act as a witness. Never telling your physician the document exists is another one. Any of these can leave your declaration incomplete or unused when it matters most.

  • Leaving it undated. Missouri law requires a date on the declaration, so an undated form is incomplete.[1]
  • Using only one witness. If the document is not entirely in your own handwriting, you need two witnesses, not one.[1]
  • Letting your agent witness your signature. The person who signs the declaration on your behalf cannot also serve as one of your witnesses.[1]
  • Never telling your doctor. Missouri law puts the job of notifying your physician on you, the declarant, not on your family or your doctor’s office.[1] A living will that stays in a drawer cannot help you.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is a Missouri Living Will?

A Missouri living will is the written declaration described in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 459.015. In it, you direct your physician to withhold or withdraw life-prolonging procedures if you have a terminal condition and can no longer take part in your own medical decisions.[1] It is not the same document as a durable power of attorney for health care, which names someone to make other medical decisions for you. FormsPal’s builder combines both into one document so you only have to fill out one form.

Can I Print Out a Living Will?

Yes. Missouri law requires the declaration to be in writing, so printing the form and signing it meets that requirement.[1] You can download the Missouri living will form above and print it, or fill it out on screen first and print it once it is finished.

Where Can I Get a Living Will Form?

Missouri law itself sets out a sample declaration you can use, word for word, in Mo. Rev. Stat. § 459.015.[1] FormsPal offers a free, ready-to-use version of the Missouri living will form above. Our builder also adds a durable power of attorney for health care to the same document.

It helps to talk about your wishes with the people close to you and with your named agent before you need the document, so nobody is guessing what you would have wanted. Many people also revisit their living will every few years, or after a major health change, and sign a new one if their wishes change.


General information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources

  1. Mo. Rev. Stat. § 459.015.
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.