Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements in Utah

At a glance

Utah rewrote its health care directive law from the ground up. Effective January 1, 2026, the old Advance Health Care Directive Act is repealed and replaced by the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, Utah Code §§ 75A-9-101 to 75A-9-129. If you signed a Utah directive before 2026, it remains valid, but the rules for signing a new one — and some of the details about who can witness and serve — have changed. This page states the current law.

Utah does not split the medical POA from the living will. A single advance health care directive can contain a power of attorney for health care (which appoints your agent), a health care instruction (your treatment wishes), or both in one record (§§ 75A-9-101(1), 75A-9-106(4)). This page focuses on the part that appoints your agent.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

Under the new act, a "power of attorney for health care" is simply "a record in which an individual appoints an agent to make health care decisions for the individual" (§ 75A-9-101(19)). Utah publishes an optional statutory form at § 75A-9-110, but you are not required to use it.

Who can sign

You must be an "individual" — defined as "an adult or emancipated minor" (§ 75A-9-101(14)) — with capacity. Utah's capacity test is tailored to the decision: to appoint an agent, you need to recognize the identity of the individual being appointed and understand the general nature of the relationship with that person (§ 75A-9-102(1)(b)(iii)). The power "must be in a record, signed by the individual creating the power" (§ 75A-9-107(4)).

Witnesses or notary

Utah requires exactly one adult witness, and — unlike many states — offers no notary alternative. Section 75A-9-107(4) says the power "must be ... signed by an adult witness" who "reasonably believes the act of the individual to create the power of attorney is voluntary and knowing." A notary is not a substitute.

Utah also expressly allows remote witnessing. Under § 75A-9-107(5), a witness counts as "present" if physically in the same room, if connected by "real time audio and visual" link, or by audio alone where the witness knows or can authenticate your identity. So a witness can sign over a video call.

Who can't witness or serve

The witness disqualifications are narrow. Your witness "is not ... the agent appointed by the individual," "the agent's spouse or cohabitant," or — if you live in or are getting care at a nursing home or assisted-living facility — that facility's "owner, operator, employee, or contractor" (§ 75A-9-107(4)(b)). Note what is absent: the new law does not bar your relatives or heirs from witnessing, a change from the old "disinterested adult" rule.

Two categories cannot serve as your agent: someone "a court finds ... poses a danger to the individual's well-being," and the owner, operator, employee, or contractor of a nursing home or assisted-living facility where you reside or get care — unless that person is "a family member of the individual, the cohabitant of the individual, or a descendant of the cohabitant" (§ 75A-9-107(2)).

When the agent can act

By default the power is springing: it "commences when the individual is found ... to lack capacity to make a health care decision" and ceases if you regain capacity (§ 75A-9-117(1)). But you can flip the default — the power of attorney "may provide that the power of an agent ... commences on appointment," making it effective immediately (§ 75A-9-117(3)).

Powers and limits

Once active, your agent can make the health care decisions you could make: selecting or discharging providers, approving or refusing tests, procedures, and medications, and directing that artificial nutrition, hydration, or mechanical ventilation be "provide[d], with[held], or withdraw[n]" (§ 75A-9-101(10)). The act also builds in protective limits an agent cannot override:

• Mental-health admission. No consent to voluntary admission to a mental health facility unless your directive specifically authorizes it and caps the number of days (§ 75A-9-117(5)).
• Long-term nursing-home placement. No placement intended to exceed 100 days over your objection (or where an alternative is feasible, or you are not terminally ill) unless your directive authorizes it (§ 75A-9-117(6)–(7)).
• Long-term life support. If you have a long-term disability and a history of using artificial nutrition, hydration, or ventilation without objection, your agent generally cannot withhold or withdraw it except in the specific circumstances listed in § 75A-9-118(1).

How to revoke

You can revoke "by any act ... that clearly indicates that the individual intends to revoke," expressly "including an oral statement to a health care professional" (§ 75A-9-114(2)). A later directive that conflicts with an earlier one revokes the earlier to the extent of the conflict (§ 75A-9-114(3)). And a spouse-agent is revoked automatically once a divorce, annulment, dissolution, legal-separation, or termination petition "has been filed and not dismissed or withdrawn," when a decree issues, on a recorded separation agreement, or after a year of willful desertion — unless your directive says otherwise (§ 75A-9-114(4)).

Out-of-state directives

A directive created outside Utah is valid if it complies with the law of the state specified in the directive or, if none is specified, the state where the individual created it — or with Utah's own chapter (§ 75A-9-115(1)). An electronic directive or signature cannot be denied effect just for being electronic (§ 75A-9-115(3)).

What trips people up

• The law changed on January 1, 2026. Guidance, forms, and websites written before then describe the repealed Advance Health Care Directive Act. Under the current act you need one witness (not the old "disinterested adult" formulation), and relatives are no longer disqualified from witnessing (§ 75A-9-107(4)).
• A notary is not enough by itself. Utah requires a witness signature; notarizing the document does not substitute for it (§ 75A-9-107(4)).
• Your witness can be on a video call. Utah expressly allows a witness to be "present" by live audio-video, so you do not need someone physically in the room (§ 75A-9-107(5)).
• Divorce cancels a spouse-agent — as soon as the case is filed. You do not have to wait for a final decree; a filed-and-pending divorce or separation petition already revokes a spouse's appointment unless your directive says to keep it (§ 75A-9-114(4)).

Common questions

Does a Utah health care power of attorney need to be notarized? No. It needs your signature and one adult witness's signature; Utah does not offer notarization as an alternative (§ 75A-9-107(4)).

Can my relative be the witness? Yes. Under the current law the witness only cannot be your agent, the agent's spouse or cohabitant, or your care facility's staff (§ 75A-9-107(4)(b)). Relatives and heirs are not disqualified.

When does my agent's authority begin? By default, only after a provider (or court) finds you lack capacity (§ 75A-9-117(1)). You can choose to make the power effective on appointment instead (§ 75A-9-117(3)).

Will a directive I signed in another state work in Utah? Yes, if it was valid under the law of the state named in it (or where you signed it), or it meets Utah's requirements (§ 75A-9-115(1)).

Statutes and sources

• Utah Code § 75A-9-107 — power of attorney for health care: signed by you and one adult witness (no notary), remote witnessing allowed, disqualified agents. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S107_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-101 — definitions of advance health care directive, health care decision, individual, and power of attorney for health care. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S101_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-102 — capacity, including the decision-specific test for appointing an agent. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S102_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-106 — health care instructions; may share a record with the power of attorney. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S106_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-117 — when an agent's power commences; mental-health and nursing-home limits. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S117_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-118 — limitation on withdrawing long-term nutrition, hydration, or ventilation. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S118_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-114 — revocation, including automatic revocation of a spouse-agent on a filed divorce or separation. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S114_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Utah Code § 75A-9-115 — validity of an out-of-state or electronic directive. https://le.utah.gov/xcode/Title75A/Chapter9/C75A-9-S115_2026010120250507.pdf (accessed 2026-07-16)