Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements in Kansas

At a glance

Kansas puts its medical power of attorney in a statute of its own: the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions Act, K.S.A. 58-625 to 58-632, enacted in 1989. It is separate from Kansas's living will, which lives in the Natural Death Act (K.S.A. 65-28,101 et seq.). The two documents do different jobs — the living will records your treatment wishes, while the durable power of attorney names an agent to make health care decisions for you. This page covers the agent-appointment document. Kansas also publishes a form the document must "substantially" follow, at § 58-632.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

A Kansas health care power of attorney is one "by which a principal designates another as the principal's agent in writing" (§ 58-625). It "shall be in substantially the following form" set out in § 58-632, so unlike states with a purely optional form, Kansas expects your document to track the statutory form's structure. Because the medical POA is separate from the Natural Death Act living will, many Kansans sign both.

Who can sign

The Act requires the appointment to be "in writing," and the writing must contain durability language — either the words "this power of attorney for health care decisions shall not be affected by subsequent disability or incapacity of the principal" or "this power of attorney for health care decisions shall become effective upon the disability or incapacity of the principal," or similar words (§ 58-625). That wording is what makes the power "durable" — it is what keeps the agent's authority alive after you lose capacity, so a document missing it may not work when it is needed. The document must be "dated and signed" by you (§ 58-629(e)). The Act does not spell out a minimum age or a capacity test for the principal beyond that.

Witnesses or notary

Kansas gives you a choice. The document "shall be: (1) Dated and signed in the presence of two witnesses at least 18 years of age ...; or (2) acknowledged before a notary public" (§ 58-629(e)). You need one route or the other — two qualifying witnesses, or a notary. The statutory form repeats the same rule at its foot.

Who can't witness or serve

Kansas regulates both roles. A witness may not be the agent, may not be related to you "by blood, marriage or adoption," may not be someone "entitled to any portion of the estate of the principal" by intestacy or under your will, and may not be "directly financially responsible for the principal's health care" (§ 58-629(e)(1)). So if you use witnesses rather than a notary, both must be genuine outsiders — a spouse or an heir cannot serve.

The rule on who may be your agent is narrower. Your "treating health care provider," that provider's employee, and "an employee, owner, director or officer" of the facility caring for you may not be your agent (§ 58-629(d)) — with two exceptions: someone "[r]elated to the principal by blood, marriage or adoption," or a member of the same vowed religious community. So you can name a relative who happens to be your nurse, but not your unrelated treating physician.

When the agent can act

By default the power springs: "No agent powers ... shall be effective until the occurrence of the principal's impairment as determined by the principal's attending physician ... unless the durable power of attorney for health care decisions specifically provides otherwise" (§ 58-629(b)). Your attending physician (defined in K.S.A. 65-28,102) is the one who determines the impairment. If you want your agent to be able to act immediately, the § 58-625 durability wording and the § 58-632 form let you choose the "shall not be affected by subsequent disability" option instead.

Powers and limits

Once effective, your agent may "[c]onsent, refuse consent, or withdraw consent to any care, treatment, service or procedure," and may decide about organ donation, autopsy, and disposition of your body, arrange care at hospitals and nursing facilities, hire and fire providers, and obtain your records (§ 58-629(a)). Two limits stand out. First, the agent's powers reach only "the extent set out in writing" in your document, and expressly "shall not include the power to revoke or invalidate a previously existing declaration ... in accordance with the natural death act" (§ 58-629(b)) — your agent cannot cancel your living will. Second, the agent "has a duty to act consistent with the expressed desires of the principal" (§ 58-629(c)).

How to revoke

You can revoke your health care power of attorney, but Kansas protects people who act before they learn of it: a "voluntary revocation ... does not revoke or terminate the agency as to the agent or other person, who, without actual knowledge of the revocation, acts in good faith under the power" (§ 58-628). The statutory form contemplates revocation "by an instrument in writing executed, witnessed or acknowledged in the same manner as required" or in another manner you set out (§ 58-632). The practical takeaway: put a revocation in writing and tell your agent and your providers.

Out-of-state directives

A directive you signed elsewhere travels well. One "valid under the laws of the state of the principal's residence at the time the durable power of attorney for health care decisions was signed, shall be a durable power of attorney for health care decisions under this act" (§ 58-630).

What trips people up

• The durability wording is not boilerplate you can drop. The document only works after incapacity if it contains the specific "shall not be affected by subsequent disability" or "shall become effective upon the disability" language (§ 58-625). A generic "power of attorney" without it may fail exactly when it matters, so use the § 58-632 form's wording.
• Your medical-POA agent cannot undo your living will. If you also signed a Natural Death Act declaration, your health care agent has no power "to revoke or invalidate" it (§ 58-629(b)). The two documents are coordinated, not interchangeable.
• Witnesses must be outsiders, and your doctor usually can't be your agent. If you skip the notary, both witnesses must be unrelated non-heirs who aren't financially responsible for your care (§ 58-629(e)(1)), and your unrelated treating provider or facility staff cannot serve as agent (§ 58-629(d)).

Common questions

Does a Kansas health care power of attorney have to be notarized? No. You can either sign before two qualifying witnesses or have it acknowledged before a notary (§ 58-629(e)). Either one is enough on its own.

Can my spouse or adult child witness it? Not if you are using witnesses instead of a notary — a witness cannot be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption or be an heir (§ 58-629(e)(1)). A relative can still be named as your agent, though.

When does my agent's authority begin? By default only after your attending physician determines you are impaired, unless your document says it takes effect immediately (§ 58-629(b)).

Is this the same as a living will in Kansas? No. The health care power of attorney (§ 58-625 et seq.) names an agent to decide for you; the living will, under the Natural Death Act (K.S.A. 65-28,101 et seq.), records your own treatment wishes. Many people sign both.

Statutes and sources

• Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58-625 — a health care power of attorney is a written designation of an agent that contains durability language. https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch58/058_006_0025.html (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58-628 — a voluntary revocation does not affect someone who acts in good faith without actual knowledge of it. https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch58/058_006_0028.html (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58-629 — agent authority and limits, who may not be agent, when the power becomes effective, and the two-witnesses-or-notary rule. https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch58/058_006_0029.html (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58-630 — a directive valid where the principal resided when signed is valid in Kansas. https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch58/058_006_0030.html (accessed 2026-08-10)
• Kan. Stat. Ann. § 58-632 — the substantially-mandatory statutory form and its witness-or-notary execution block. https://ksrevisor.gov/statutes/chapters/ch58/058_006_0032.html (accessed 2026-08-10)