Alabama Advance Directive Requirements

Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: Alabama calls this instrument Advance Directive for Health Care (Living Will and Health Care Proxy): a single combined statutory instrument. Witnesses needed to execute it: 2, each at least 19 years old. What the state requires: Witnessing only: the statutory form (§22-8A-4(h)) has a witness-signature block and no notary acknowledgment block; notarization is not required or offered as an alternative.. Getting the execution formalities wrong is the most common way a directive fails when it is needed.

The execution box

What the statute says

“I am witnessing this form because I believe this person to be of sound mind. I did not sign the person’s signature, and I am not the health care proxy. I am not related to the person by blood, adoption, or marriage and not entitled to any part of his or her estate. I am at least 19 years of age and am not directly responsible for paying for his or her medical care.” (Witness attestation clause, §22-8A-4(h))

(Code of Alabama 1975, Title 22, Chapter 8A (Alabama Natural Death Act), §22-8A-4)

The form

Yes: the Alabama Department of Public Health hosts the official statutory form free of charge, the exact form contemplated by §22-8A-4(h).

Why the witness rules matter more than the wording

People spend their effort on what the directive says and almost none on how it is signed. A directive that expresses your wishes perfectly but was witnessed by someone the statute disqualifies may not be honoured. The disqualification lists exist because the people most likely to be in the room, family, the treating doctor, facility staff, are the people with an interest in the outcome.

Two practical consequences. Ask who is signing before the appointment, not during it. And if you are already in a hospital or care facility, check the facility rule row above: several states add a requirement that applies only to patients and residents, and it is the one nobody mentions.

This is the medical instrument, not the financial one

A financial power of attorney is a different document with different execution rules. Having one does not give anyone authority over your medical care, and having this one gives nobody authority over your money. Most people need both, and they are executed separately.

What could not be verified

PRIMARY SOURCE PARTIALLY SUBSTITUTED: raw statute prose was unfetchable everywhere tried (alison.legislature.state.al.us is a JS SPA; law.justia.com 403’d; alisondb DNS-dead; findlaw returned only an index). The official Alabama Dept. of Public Health-hosted statutory form was fetched and read directly instead: the actual government-served form text, not a third-party summary, since §22-8A-4(h) prescribes the form ‘substantially in the following form.’ The 2-witness rule and age-19 threshold were cross-corroborated across three independently fetched sources. The ‘no care-facility rule’ conclusion is provisional (absence-of-evidence, not a read of the full raw statute).

Related: all states compared · living will versus healthcare proxy · what it costs.

Also for Alabama: Alabama Small Estate Affidavit · Alabama Power of Attorney Requirements.

General information drawn from state statutes and official state materials, not legal or medical advice. Advance-directive law is STATE law and the execution requirements differ in ways that decide whether a document works: some states require witnesses AND a notary, some accept either, and the list of people who may not witness varies. A directive executed the wrong way may not be honoured when it matters. Many states publish a free official form – you should not have to buy one.