Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Wyoming accepts a notary or two witnesses for a health care power of attorney — and the witnesses must sign a declaration under penalty of perjury, in words the statute supplies. Wyoming also allows a plain individual instruction to be given orally, which very few states permit.
Two different things in one section
Wyoming separates them, and the requirements differ sharply:
- An individual instruction — your own directions about care. May be oral or written, and may be conditional.
- A power of attorney for health care — appointing an agent. Must be in writing, and executed with a notary or two declaring witnesses.
What the statute says
(a) An adult or emancipated minor may give an individual instruction. The instruction may be oral or written. The instruction may be limited to take effect only if a specified condition arises. (b) An adult or emancipated minor may execute a power of attorney for health care… The power must be in writing and signed by the principal or by another person in the principal’s presence and at the principal’s expressed direction. The power remains in effect notwithstanding the principal’s later incapacity… The durable power of attorney must be acknowledged before a notarial officer or must be signed by at least two (2) witnesses, each of whom witnessed either the signing of the instrument by the principal or the principal’s acknowledgement of the signature or of the instrument, each witness making the following declaration in substance: I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of Wyoming that the person who signed or acknowledged this document is known to me to be the principal, and the principal signed or acknowledged this document in my presence.
— W.S. §35-22-403(a)-(b)
Three things to draw out.
Oral instructions count. That is genuinely unusual. It does not make an oral instruction easy to prove, and it does not extend to appointing an agent — but a spoken direction to a treating clinician is not a nullity in Wyoming.
The witness declaration is prescribed. Each witness declares, in substance, “under penalty of perjury under the laws of Wyoming” that the signer is known to them to be the principal and signed in their presence. A witness line with only a signature does not meet that — and a generic multi-state form will not contain it.
Durability is built in. The power “remains in effect notwithstanding the principal’s later incapacity” without needing magic words.
Who may not witness — and a separate rule about who may not be the agent
None of the following shall be used as a witness for a power of attorney for health care: (i) A treating health care provider or employee of the provider; (ii) The attorney-in-fact nominated in the writing; (iii) The operator of a community care facility or employee of the operator or facility; (iv) The operator of a residential care facility or employee of the operator or facility.
— W.S. §35-22-403(c)
Note what is not on that list: relatives and heirs. Wyoming excludes the treating provider and their employees, the nominated attorney-in-fact, and care-facility operators and their employees — but a family member may witness.
There is also a distinct restriction on the agent: unless related to the principal by blood, marriage or adoption, the agent may not be an owner, operator or employee of a residential or community care facility where the principal is receiving care. That is a conflict-of-interest rule aimed at the facility, and it is easy to trip over when the most willing helper is a staff member the resident trusts.
When the agent’s authority actually starts
Unless otherwise specified in a power of attorney for health care, the authority of an agent becomes effective only upon a determination that the principal lacks capacity, and ceases to be effective upon a determination that the principal has recovered capacity.
— W.S. §35-22-403(d)
By default the agent has no authority until a determination that the principal lacks capacity, and it ends when capacity returns. Both halves matter: this is not a document that hands over control on signing, and it is not one that keeps control after recovery. You can override the default by saying so in the document.
This is the medical instrument, not the financial one
It covers health care decisions. It does not reach bank accounts or property — that is a financial power of attorney, with its own execution rules.
Power of attorney requirements by state
What could not be verified
We have quoted W.S. 35-22-403 subsections (a) through (d). We have not covered revocation, the surrogate provisions where no agent is named, the duties of a health care provider who declines to comply, or the statutory form if one exists. Whether Wyoming publishes a free official form is not verified, so we do not say that it does.
Related: Colorado · Oklahoma · requirements by state.
General information drawn from state statutes and official state or court forms, not legal advice. These instruments are governed by the law of the state where the property sits or the document is signed, and formalities differ from state to state — execution, witnessing and recording requirements are the parts that void a document when they are missed. Your own state’s current statute governs.