Free Virginia Living Will Form

Updated: Oct 31, 2026

The document usually covers two parts: your health care wishes, and, if you choose, a medical power of attorney naming an agent. A Virginia living will is not a substitute for a last will, and it does not need to name an agent. These documents let you plan for future medical decisions without involving a court.

Signing Requirements and Laws

Any adult capable of making an informed decision may make a written Virginia advance directive at any time, addressing health care choices for a time when the declarant can no longer decide. If any part of the document later turns out to be invalid or illegal, that does not affect the rest of the advance directive.^[1]

Virginia’s advance directive law defines several terms used on the form.^[3]

• Attending physician: the primary doctor attending the patient and performing all necessary health care procedures.
• Incapable of making an informed decision: a person who cannot evaluate the risks or is eventually viewed as mentally ill or experiencing any other mental or physical disorder. Such a condition has to be certified in writing by an attending physician. Those people diagnosed as deaf, dysplasia, or with any other communication disabilities if they are mentally competent and can communicate by means other than speech, are considered capable of making informed decisions.
• Persistent vegetative state: a condition resulting from an injury or disease that has left a patient unconscious, showing no signs of behavioral evidence of self-awareness or awareness of surroundings apart from muscle and nerve reflexive activity.
• Witness: any person who has reached the age of 18, including blood relatives, husband or wife of a patient, as well as employees of health care facilities and physician’s offices.
• Terminal condition: a state evaluated by competent medical staff, viewed as almost no medical probability for a patient to be followed up any other way but death. It also might mean that a patient is in a persistent vegetative state.

Two subscribing witnesses must be present when the declarant signs.^[1] These may be relatives or medical staff acting in good faith, as long as they are at least 18 years old.^[3]

A patient already diagnosed with a terminal condition may instead make an oral advance directive. Two witnesses and the attending physician must be present when the patient states it.^[1]

It is the declarant’s own responsibility to notify the attending physician that an advance directive has been made. If the patient is comatose or otherwise unable to communicate, any other person may notify the physician instead, including notice that the advance directive has been submitted to the Advance Health Care Planning Registry.^[1]

Virginia Living Will Form Details

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Steps to Fill Out the Form

The screenshots under each step show the FormsPal Virginia 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.

You can fill out the Virginia living will and medical power of attorney in seven steps. They cover your information, health care wishes, agent appointments, signature, and witness acknowledgment, in the form’s own order. FormsPal’s builder above walks you through each field.

1. Enter the date and your information. At the top of the document, fill in the date and your full name and address as the declarant.

   

2. Initial your health care and end-of-life wishes. Read each health care and end-of-life statement and initial the ones that reflect your wishes.

   

3. Add additional instructions (optional). Use this section to write any health care wishes not already covered by the printed statements, or leave it blank.

   

4. Appoint your agent. Enter the name, address, and phone number of the person you want to make medical decisions for you if you cannot, then repeat the appointment for a substitute agent in the next step.

   

5. Name a substitute agent. Enter a substitute agent’s name, address, and phone number in case your first choice is unavailable or unwilling to serve.

   

6. Sign and date. Read the completed document again, then sign and date it in front of your two witnesses.

   

7. Complete the witness acknowledgment. Have both witnesses print their names and addresses, then sign and date the acknowledgment section.

   

Other Virginia Forms
Looking for more Virginia forms? We offer free templates and straightforward personalization experience to everyone who would love having fewer to none challenges when coping with paperwork.

Virginia Last Will Virginia Small Estate Affidavit Virginia Bill of Sale Virginia Power of Attorney Virginia Rental Lease Agreement Virginia Eviction Notice Virginia Promissory Note Virginia Non-compete Agreement Virginia Prenuptial Agreement Virginia LLC Operating Agreement Virginia Marital Settlement (Divorce) Agreement

Frequently Asked Questions

How Do I Get a Living Will Form in Virginia?

Virginia law provides a suggested combined form for a written advance directive. Va. Code § 54.1-2984 sets out language you may use to appoint a health care agent and record your treatment wishes in one document.^[2] FormsPal’s template above already follows this structure, so you can fill it out directly instead of drafting the statutory language yourself.

What Are the Requirements for a Living Will in Virginia?

To be valid, a written Virginia living will must be signed by the declarant in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. Any adult capable of making an informed decision may make one at any time, before a crisis occurs. Virginia also allows an oral advance directive when a patient already diagnosed with a terminal condition speaks it in front of the attending physician and two witnesses.^[1]

Planning a Virginia living will with a durable power of attorney helps your loved ones and medical team understand your wishes. This planning also keeps major life decisions, including end of life decisions, out of court.

General information, not legal or tax advice.

Sources

Unless noted otherwise, the sources below are from the Va. Code Ann..

1. Va. Code Ann. § 54.1-2983.
2. Va. Code Ann. § 54.1-2984.
3. Va. Code Ann. § 54.1-2982.

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.