California Advance Health Care Directive: How to Complete It (2026)

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Nobody likes to think about a moment when they cannot speak for themselves. But planning for it is one of the kindest things you can do for your family. In California, the document that handles medical decisions during incapacity is the Advance Health Care Directive. It spares your loved ones from guessing what you would have wanted, and it gives your doctors clear instructions to follow.

This guide explains what the California Advance Health Care Directive covers, how it combines a living will with a health care power of attorney, and exactly how to complete and sign it.

What the directive is

The Advance Health Care Directive is California's official form for medical decision-making. It is set out in Probate Code Section 4700, which provides a statutory form you can fill in.1 One document does two jobs at once:

  • Health care power of attorney. You appoint a person, your health care agent, to make medical decisions for you if you become unable to make them yourself.
  • Individual health care instructions (a living will). You state your own wishes about life-sustaining treatment, pain relief, and end-of-life care, so your agent and doctors know what you want.

Because it combines both roles, the California directive replaces the older, separate documents some people still refer to as a durable power of attorney for health care and a living will.

Naming your health care agent

Your health care agent will speak for you in the hospital, so choose someone you trust to honor your wishes even under pressure. Pick a person who is calm, available, and able to advocate firmly with medical staff. You should also name at least one alternate in case your first choice is unavailable. California places one important limit: your treating health care provider, an employee of your health care institution, or the operator or employee of a community care facility generally cannot serve as your agent, unless they are a close relative.3

Stating your treatment wishes

The instructions section lets you say, in advance, how you want to be treated. You can direct that your life be prolonged as long as possible, or that treatment be withheld or withdrawn if you have an incurable condition or are near the end of life. You can add wishes about pain management, artificial nutrition and hydration, organ donation, and even your primary physician. You are free to be as specific or as general as you like, and you can leave any part blank if you would rather your agent decide in the moment.

Talk to your agent. The form is only half the job. The most important step is a real conversation with the person you name, so they understand your values and can act with confidence. A directive your agent has read and discussed is far more useful than one they discover for the first time in a crisis.

How to complete and sign it (witnesses or notary)

To be legally effective in California, an Advance Health Care Directive must be signed and dated by you, and then either acknowledged before a notary public or signed by two qualified adult witnesses.2 You need one or the other, not both.

California sets rules on who may witness. A witness cannot be your appointed health care agent, and at least one of your two witnesses must not be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, and must not stand to inherit from your estate.3 If you live in a skilled nursing facility, an additional patient-advocate witness is required. These rules exist to guard against pressure or undue influence.

Distribute copies. A directive locked in a drawer does no good in an emergency. Give signed copies to your health care agent, your alternate, and your primary doctor, and consider keeping a note in your wallet saying you have one and who holds it.

Changing or revoking it

You can revoke or replace your directive at any time while you have capacity. You revoke the agent designation by a signed writing or by personally informing your health care provider, and you can revoke your treatment instructions in any manner that shows your intent.2 Signing a new directive that says so also revokes the old one. As with any planning document, review it after major life changes and make sure the people you named are still the right choices.

Where it fits in your plan

The Advance Health Care Directive is the medical half of incapacity planning; a durable power of attorney is the financial half. Neither replaces a will, which controls what happens to your property after death. A complete California plan usually has all three. Our guide to the California durable power of attorney covers the financial side, and when you are ready to record your property wishes, our guide on how to write a will in California and our California will builder walk you through it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an Advance Health Care Directive the same as a living will? The California directive includes a living will. It combines your treatment instructions with the appointment of a health care agent in a single statutory document.

Does a California directive need to be notarized? It must be either notarized or signed by two qualified witnesses. You choose one method; both are valid.

Who cannot be my health care agent? Your treating provider, an employee of your health facility, or a community care facility operator generally cannot serve unless they are a close relative.

Can I change my directive later? Yes. While you have capacity you can revoke or replace it at any time, and signing a new one revokes the old.

Sources

  1. 1California Probate Code Section 4700 (Advance Health Care Directive form) (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
  2. 2California Probate Code Section 4673 (execution and revocation requirements) (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
  3. 3California Probate Code Section 4674 (witness eligibility) (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov)
  4. 4California Courts Self-Help: Wills and life planning (selfhelp.courts.ca.gov)
Max Kuch

About the author

Max Kuch

Max Kuch writes about estate planning, wills and inheritance for California Will Template. He gathers the rules from the California statutes and the leading public data, then explains them in plain, accessible language so anyone can put their wishes in writing.

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, if you finish it correctly. California Probate Code Section 6111 recognizes a holographic will, which is one where your signature and all of the material provisions (the parts that say who gets what) are in your own handwriting. No witnesses are required. Our service gives you a clean, California-specific draft. To make it valid you copy the operative wording out by hand, then sign it. We strongly recommend you also date it, because Section 6111(b) allows an undated holographic will to be challenged if it conflicts with another will and the order cannot be established.

Because that is exactly what makes a holographic will valid under California law. Section 6111 requires that the material provisions and your signature be in your own handwriting. A printed or typed document that you only sign is not a valid holographic will in California and would need witnesses to qualify as a formal will. We give you the full text and a clear guide, so you simply transcribe the substantive parts (names, gifts, executor) in your own hand, sign, and date it.

California has no forced heirship, so you are generally free to decide who inherits. Two protections still apply. California is a community property state, so your surviving spouse already owns one half of the community property regardless of your will. Separately, the omitted spouse and omitted child rules (Probate Code Sections 21610 to 21612) protect a spouse you married, or a child born or adopted, after you signed the will: they may still take a share unless your will shows the omission was intentional. If you truly want to leave someone out, say so clearly in the will.

Keep the original signed handwritten document somewhere safe, such as a fireproof home safe or a bank safe deposit box, and make sure the person you name as executor knows where it is and can reach it. California has no statewide registry for holographic wills. If you prefer an official option, you may lodge the original with the clerk of the superior court in your county for safekeeping during your lifetime. Do not staple, alter, or mark the original after you sign it.

We do not recommend a single joint document. A California holographic will must be in the testator's own handwriting, and one page written by two people creates confusion about whose words are whose and complicates changes later. The clean approach is two separate mirror wills, one written and signed entirely by each spouse, that reflect the same wishes. Our tool produces an individual draft for each of you so you can each write and sign your own.

Yes. You can revise your California will whenever your circumstances change, for example after a marriage, a divorce, a birth, or a move. The safest method is to write a fresh holographic will that revokes all previous wills, then copy it out by hand, sign it, and date it. Dating matters here: if two handwritten wills conflict and one is undated, Section 6111(b) can make the undated one invalid. Destroy the old original once the new one is signed.

No. This service helps you create a valid holographic will for straightforward situations, but it is not legal advice and does not replace an attorney. If your estate is large, you own a business, you have blended family issues, property in more than one state, minor children needing guardianship planning, or you expect a dispute, consult a California estate planning attorney. For many people with simple wishes, a properly handwritten, signed, and dated will is a solid starting point.

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