Free North Carolina Living Will Form

The living will form in North Carolina, officially named the “Advance Directive For Natural Death,” allows a declarant to state the actions that their medical team and healthcare representative should take in case of death.

The declaration includes various options that reflect a person’s decisions regarding the body. It is especially vital to create such a document if a person suffers from a disease or enters a period of advanced age.

Signing Requirements and Laws

The Living Will creation in North Carolina is regulated by sections § 90-320, § 90-321, § 90-322, and § 90-323 of the state law. The sample of the Advance Directive is presented in section § 90-321.

The Advance Directive in North Carolina can be either a distinct document or a part that is merged to the health care power of attorney form if this form meets the state law. Regardless of creating a separate Living Will form or including it into another document, the Advance Directive should be signed in accordance with the mentioned § 90-320–§ 90-323 of the state law.

In North Carolina, it is obligatory to notarize the Advance Directive, or the Living Will form, when it is complete. A declarant also has to choose two witnesses that will be signing the declaration. A declarant may call the document off if he or she is in good conscience and can communicate.

Requirements For Witnesses

The witnesses that are signing the Living Will form in North Carolina should have the following characteristics. Mind that they:

  • Cannot be the relatives or spouses of the declarant
  • Have no chance or intention to receive even the smallest part of the declarant’s inheritance
  • Are not an assigned physician, or part of the healthcare team, or members of the medical personnel responsible for the Living Will form implementation
  • Are not having any claims regarding the declarant’s estate when signing the form.

The Living Will form is an extremely important document, so you can consider giving a copy of it to your trusted person, a relative, or a physician that monitors you. Also, the instructions ask declarants to consider filing the form with the official North Carolina Secretary of State organ: Advanced Health Care Directive Registry.

North Carolina Living Will Form Details

Document Name North Carolina Living Will Form
State Form Name North Carolina Advance Directive for a Natural Death
Signing Requirements Two Witnesses and Notary Public
Validity Requirements Section 90-321(c)
Specific Powers Section 90-321(d1)
Avg. Time to Fill Out 13 minutes
# of Fillable Fields 48
Available Formats Adobe PDF; Microsoft Word
State Laws: North Carolina General Statutes, Sections 90-320 to 90-323

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Download your fillable North Carolina Living Will templates in PDF or DOC format

Steps to Fill Out the Form

To create a Living Will form in North Carolina, you have to complete ten simple steps:

1. Download the form on our website

To begin completing the Living Will form, download the template as a PDF document that you may fill it out right away. To fill out the form correctly, use our convenient Online Forms Building Software.

2. Read the general instructions

The Living Will form starts with a box with general instructions and important details. Read them thoroughly before filling the document.
General instructions sectiong of living will form for North Carolina

3. Start filling out the form

First of all, you have to put your full and legal name in the document. The line for your name comes before the sections of the form. Then, you have to choose the conditions that allow your healthcare representative to act in accordance with the form:

  • Having an incurable illness that will end with death shortly
  • Losing consciousness without an ability to get it back
  • Suffering from a disease that leads to a lack of cognitive ability.

You can choose any of those statements or all of them.
Section for starting of filling out a form of living will for North Carolina

4. Choose the degree of obligation

You have to state if the healthcare representative may or shall act in accordance with your Living Will form.
Part for choosing degree of obligation of a North Carolina living will

5. Opt for artificial hydration and nutrition

The Advance Directive in North Carolina allows you to declare if you want to maintain your artificial hydration, or nutrition, or both.
Section for opt for artificial hydration and nutrition of a North Carolina living will document

6. Read the following statements of the form

In the following sections, you don’t have to choose anything. The declarants should read and agree with two statements:

  • Permission to the healthcare representatives and medical team to keep the declarant as comfortable as possible, making him or her clean and reduce the pain.
  • A statement saying that you are aware of the content of the Living Will form.
    Statements section of a document of living will for North Carolina

7. Delegate the responsibility to your agent if needed

Here, you have to choose whether your healthcare agent may or may not override the directives given in your declaration. This applies only if you have a healthcare agent. If you have one and accidentally choose both options, the medical team will follow your document but not the agent’s orders.
Responsibility delegation part of North Carolina living will template

8. Agree that this Living Will form is a reliable document

In the next three sections, you need to agree that the responsible medical team can rely on this declaration. Also, you confirm that this document is effective wherever you are. Finally, you receive the right to revoke the Living Will form if you are sound enough to communicate and express your will. Please note that revoking the declaration means that you should get rid of all its copies.
Information about form as reliable document section of living will template for North Carolina

9. Sign the declaration

Firstly, you have to fill in the date of the signing above. Also, you have to provide your full and legal name and a signature.
Declaration signing part of North Carolina living will document

10. Add witnesses’ signatures to the document

After placing your own signature, the witnesses have to sign the form. According to the state law of North Carolina, you should have two legal witnesses. They have to read the following statement about the declarant, meet the listed requirements, and confirm the declarant’s sound mind. Then, witnesses write the valid date and sign the form, adding county and state names. Finally, the notary should sign the declaration according to the local law.
Witnesses signatures part of North Carolina living will


Published: Aug 26, 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.