Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements in Minnesota

At a glance

Minnesota rolls the two advance-planning documents into one instrument called a health care directive, governed by Minn. Stat. ch. 145C. In a single document you can name a health care agent to decide for you, write treatment instructions (the "living will"), or do both — but the directive must contain at least one of those (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(6)). This page is about the agent-appointment half: the health care power of attorney. Two Minnesota facts frame everything else. There is no separate "medical power of attorney" form — the appointment lives inside the health care directive. And if you sign nothing, Minnesota has no statutory default-surrogate list, which is exactly why signing a directive matters here.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

Chapter 145C supplies the rules and, at § 145C.16, a "suggested form" that "is not a required form." A directive must, under § 145C.03 subd. 1, "include a health care instruction, a health care power of attorney, or both" — so you can appoint an agent without writing any treatment instructions, or vice versa.

Who can sign

Section 145C.03 subd. 1 requires that the directive "be executed by a principal with capacity to do so with the signature of the principal or with the signature of another person authorized by the principal to sign on behalf of the principal," and that it be "in writing," "dated," and "state the principal's name." The person you appoint as your agent must be "an individual age 18 or older" (§ 145C.01 subd. 2).

Witnesses or notary

This is the choice at the heart of Minnesota's rule. The directive must verify the principal's signature either by a notary public or by witnesses (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(5)). You pick one route — you do not need both. If you use witnesses, the suggested form says: "Two witnesses must sign. Only one of the two witnesses can be a health care provider or an employee of a health care provider giving direct care to me on the day I sign this document" (§ 145C.16).

Who can't witness or serve

Two layers of eligibility rules apply. For witnesses and the notary (§ 145C.03 subd. 3): "[a] health care agent or alternate health care agent ... may not act as a witness or notary public," and "[a]t least one witness ... must not be a health care provider providing direct care to the principal or an employee" of one — though "[a] person notarizing a health care directive may be" such an employee. For who may serve as agent (§ 145C.03 subd. 2): the person you name to determine your capacity cannot also be your agent, and a health care provider attending you (or their employee) cannot serve "unless the individual appointed is related to the principal by blood, marriage, registered domestic partnership, or adoption, or unless the principal has otherwise specified."

When the agent can act

The power is springing. Under § 145C.06 and § 145C.07 subd. 1, the agent "has authority to make any particular health care decision only if the principal lacks decision-making capacity, in the determination of the attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant" — or if other conditions you wrote into the directive are met. Note that a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, not only a physician, can make that determination. Authority ends when you recover capacity.

Agent's powers and limits

Minnesota grants a broad default scope. The suggested form gives the agent automatic power to "[m]ake any health care decision," including deciding whether to stop or not start health care that is keeping you alive and deciding about intrusive mental health treatment, plus choosing providers, choosing where you live for care, and reviewing records (§ 145C.07; § 145C.16). Unlike many states, Minnesota does not carve mental health treatment out of the agent's authority — it is included by default. A few powers are not automatic and must be initialed: deciding about organ donation and about what happens to your body after death. The outer limits: nothing in the chapter may "condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia" (§ 145C.14), and "health care" excludes anything that would violate Minnesota's assisted-suicide ban (§ 145C.01 subd. 4).

How to revoke

While you have capacity you may revoke "in whole or in part at any time" (§ 145C.09 subd. 1) by destroying the document with intent to revoke, a signed and dated written statement, a verbal statement "in the presence of two witnesses who do not have to be present at the same time," or a later inconsistent directive. Minnesota also cancels a spouse-agent automatically: under § 145C.09 subd. 2, naming your spouse or registered domestic partner as agent "is revoked by the commencement of proceedings for dissolution, annulment, or termination" — the filing, not the final decree, is what triggers it — unless your directive says otherwise.

Out-of-state directives

A directive you signed elsewhere carries over. Under § 145C.04, one "executed in another state or jurisdiction is legally sufficient under this chapter if it ... complies with the law of the state or jurisdiction in which it was executed" or with § 145C.03 — with the caveat that nothing lets it override Minnesota's assisted-suicide prohibition.

What trips people up

• You choose notary or witnesses — not both. Section 145C.03 subd. 1(5) makes them alternatives. A directive signed before a notary alone is valid; so is one signed before two qualifying witnesses.
• The agent can't be a witness or the notary. People often have the person they are appointing sign as a witness too. Minnesota disqualifies the agent (and any alternate agent) from witnessing or notarizing (§ 145C.03 subd. 3(a)).
• At least one witness must be independent of your care. Only one of your two witnesses may be a provider (or a provider's employee) giving you direct care; the other cannot be (§ 145C.16; § 145C.03 subd. 3(b)).
• Divorce cancels a spouse-agent as soon as a case is filed. You do not have to wait for the divorce to be final — commencing dissolution, annulment, or termination proceedings revokes the spouse-agent appointment automatically (§ 145C.09 subd. 2).
• Your agent's mental-health authority is broad by default. Minnesota's default form lets the agent decide about intrusive mental health treatment (§ 145C.16). If you want to limit that, you must write the limit into the directive.

Common questions

Does a Minnesota health care directive have to be notarized? No. You can either have it notarized or have two qualifying witnesses sign it — your choice (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(5)).

Can the person I'm naming as agent also be a witness? No. The named agent and any alternate agent are barred from witnessing or notarizing the directive (§ 145C.03 subd. 3(a)).

Who decides that I've lost capacity so my agent can act? Your attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant — any one of the three can make that determination (§§ 145C.06, 145C.07 subd. 1).

Will a directive I signed in another state work in Minnesota? Yes, if it was valid where you executed it or meets Minnesota's own requirements (§ 145C.04).

Statutes and sources

• Minn. Stat. § 145C.03 — legal sufficiency (writing, dated, name, capacity, signature verified by notary or witnesses) and witness/notary eligibility. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.03 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.01 — definitions: agent is an individual age 18 or older; "health care" excludes assisted suicide. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.01 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.16 — suggested (non-mandatory) form: "Two witnesses must sign" option and the agent's automatic powers. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.16 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.06 — when effective: on determination of incapacity by physician, APRN, or PA. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.06 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.07 — authority and duties of the health care agent. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.07 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.09 — revocation, and automatic revocation of a spouse or registered-domestic-partner agent on commencement of divorce proceedings. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.09 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.04 — recognition of a directive executed in another state. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.04 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Minn. Stat. § 145C.14 — no construction condoning mercy killing or euthanasia. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.14 (accessed 2026-07-16)