Utah: Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements

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January 1, 2026, the old Advance Health Care Directive Act is repealed and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 this state is valid if it complies with the law of
the state specified in the directive or, if a state is not specified, the state in
which 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)