Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements in Oregon

At a glance

Oregon does not use the phrase "health care power of attorney." Its document is the advance directive, and the person you appoint to make medical decisions is your health care representative. You can appoint that representative either in the full advance directive (which also lets you record treatment wishes, the "living will" part) or through a shorter standalone form appointing a health care representative. Either way, the same execution rules apply. The law is the Oregon Advance Directive for Health Care, ORS 127.505 to 127.660, and the Oregon Health Authority publishes the official statutory form.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

Under ORS 127.510(1), "[a] capable adult may execute an advance directive," and it "is effective when it is signed by the principal and witnessed or notarized as described in ORS 127.515." Alternatively, ORS 127.510(2)(a) lets a capable adult "use a form appointing a health care representative to appoint a competent adult to serve as the health care representative." Oregon's official form is set by statute (ORS 127.527 and 127.529) and maintained by a state adoption committee, but you are not required to use that exact form as long as your document meets the execution rules below.

Who can sign

The signer must be a capable adult. ORS 127.505 defines "adult" as someone "18 years of age or older" or an emancipated or married minor, and "capable" means not incapable. The advance directive becomes effective only once it is "signed by the principal and witnessed or notarized" (ORS 127.510(1)).

Witnesses or notary

This is the step people most often get wrong. ORS 127.515(2) says the document "must be signed and: (a) Witnessed and signed by at least two adults; or (b) Notarized by a notary public." You choose one path — two witnesses or a notary, not both. If you use witnesses, ORS 127.515(3) requires each witness to watch you either sign the document or acknowledge your signature.

One special case: if you are a patient in a long-term care facility when you sign, ORS 127.515(5) requires that one of your witnesses be an individual designated by the facility and qualified under Department of Human Services rules — an extra safeguard against pressure on an institutionalized patient.

Who can't witness or serve

Two different rules apply. As a witness, ORS 127.515(4) disqualifies your "attending physician or attending health care provider" and your "health care representative or alternate health care representative." Notably, Oregon does not require that any witness be unrelated to you or a non-heir — a rule some other states impose but Oregon's statute does not.

As a representative, ORS 127.520 bars several people unless they are related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption: your attending physician or provider (or their employee) and an "owner, operator or employee of a health care facility in which the principal is a patient or resident" (unless you appointed them before you were admitted). It also bars an unfit parent or former guardian, anyone you disqualified in writing, and anyone a court has removed.

When the representative can act

The authority is springing. ORS 127.535(1) gives the representative "authority to make a health care decision for a principal only when the principal is incapable." "Incapable," under ORS 127.505, means your attending physician or provider — or a court — finds that you lack the ability to make and communicate health care decisions. The appointment also does not take hold until the representative accepts it (ORS 127.510(2)(d)). So two things must happen before your representative speaks for you: a finding of incapacity, and the representative's acceptance of the role.

Representative's powers and limits

Once active, ORS 127.535(1) gives the representative "the authority over the principal's health care that the principal would have if the principal were not incapable," subject to your document's limits. But some decisions are off-limits to every representative. ORS 127.540 says no appointed representative may consent to "(1) Convulsive treatment. (2) Psychosurgery. (3) Sterilization. (4) Abortion." And a representative may not withhold or withdraw a life-sustaining procedure unless you expressly gave that authority or you are "medically confirmed" to be in a terminal condition, permanently unconscious, or a similar qualifying condition (ORS 127.540(5)). Artificially administered nutrition and hydration is presumed and may be withdrawn only within narrow limits (ORS 127.540(6); 127.580). Finally, no representative can override you while you are objecting: ORS 127.535(5) tells providers to proceed "as though the principal is capable" whenever you object to a decision.

How to revoke

ORS 127.545(1) lets a capable principal revoke "at any time and in any manner," and a decision to withhold life-sustaining treatment or artificial nutrition and hydration may be revoked "in any manner by which the principal is able to communicate the intent to revoke" — even if you are otherwise incapable. Revocation takes effect when you communicate it to your attending physician, provider, or representative (ORS 127.545(2)). Executing a new advance directive revokes an earlier one (ORS 127.545(4)), and if you named your spouse and later file for divorce or annulment, that appointment is suspended unless you reaffirm it (ORS 127.545(5)).

Out-of-state directives

If you signed a directive in another state, ORS 127.515(6) recognizes it: an advance directive or appointment "executed by an adult who resides in another state at the time of execution, and that is executed in compliance with the laws of that state, the laws of the state where the principal is located at the time of the execution or the laws of this state, is validly executed" under the Oregon act.

What trips people up

• You do not need both witnesses and a notary. Two adult witnesses and a notary are alternatives — pick one (ORS 127.515(2)).
• Oregon has no "unrelated witness" rule. Unlike several states, Oregon does not require that a witness be someone who is not related to you or not an heir; it bars only your attending provider and your named representative from witnessing (ORS 127.515(4)).
• The appointment does nothing until it is accepted. Your representative's authority begins only when they accept the role and only after you are found incapable (ORS 127.510(2)(d); 127.535(1)).
• Life-support authority is not automatic. A representative can end a life-sustaining procedure only if you granted that power or you are medically confirmed to be terminal, permanently unconscious, or similarly conditioned (ORS 127.540(5)).
• Divorce filing suspends a spouse's authority. Simply filing for dissolution or annulment suspends a spouse-representative's appointment unless you reaffirm it (ORS 127.545(5)).

Common questions

Does an Oregon advance directive have to be notarized? No. You can sign before two adult witnesses instead, or use a notary — your choice (ORS 127.515(2)).

Can my representative decide about life support right away? Only within limits. The representative acts only once you are found incapable (ORS 127.535(1)), and can withhold or withdraw life support only if you gave that authority or a qualifying medical condition is confirmed (ORS 127.540(5)).

Can my doctor be my health care representative? Generally no, unless the doctor is related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption. Your attending physician or provider (and their employees) are barred from serving otherwise (ORS 127.520).

Will the directive I signed in another state work in Oregon? Yes, if it was validly executed under that state's law, Oregon's law, or the law where you were when you signed (ORS 127.515(6)).

Statutes and sources

• ORS 127.505 — definitions, including "adult," "attending physician," and "incapable." https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)
• ORS 127.510 — a capable adult may execute an advance directive or appoint a representative; effective when signed and witnessed/notarized, and when accepted. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)
• ORS 127.515 — execution: signed, then two witnesses or a notary; witness disqualifications; long-term-care-facility witness; out-of-state recognition. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)
• ORS 127.520 — persons not eligible to serve as health care representative. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)
• ORS 127.535 — authority of the representative; acts only when principal incapable; objection override. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)
• ORS 127.540 — limitations: convulsive treatment, psychosurgery, sterilization, abortion, life-sustaining procedures, and nutrition/hydration. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)
• ORS 127.545 — revocation; new directive revokes prior; divorce filing suspends a spouse-representative. https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors127.html (accessed 2026-08-20)