Washington: Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements

Washington does not have a separate "medical power of attorney" statute. Instead,
you appoint a health care agent through a durable power of attorney created
under the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, RCW chapter 11.125, by granting the agent
authority over health care. That is a different document from Washington's living
will — the "health care directive" or "directive to physicians" under the Natural
Death Act (RCW chapter 70.122), which records your own treatment wishes but does
not name a decision-maker. This page covers the agent appointment.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

The appointment lives in the Uniform Power of Attorney Act. A power of attorney is
"a writing that uses the term 'power of attorney' and grants authority to an agent
to act in the place of the principal" (RCW 11.125.020). When it "grants general
authority with respect to health care matters," RCW 11.125.400 supplies the
agent's health-care powers. Washington does not mandate a particular form for the
health-care appointment; the health-care language is what matters.

Who can sign

The signer is the "principal" — "an individual who grants authority to an agent in
a power of attorney" (RCW 11.125.020(9)) — and must be a competent adult, because
an incapacitated person cannot create a power of attorney. Under RCW 11.125.050(1)
the document "must be signed and dated by the principal." If you are physically
unable to sign, you may sign by mark or through the procedure in RCW 64.08.100
(RCW 11.125.050(2)).

Witnesses or notary

Washington gives you a choice. RCW 11.125.050(1) requires that the principal's
signature be "either acknowledged before a notary public ... or attested
by two or more competent witnesses." You do not need both. A notarized signature
also carries a bonus: it "is presumed to be genuine" (RCW 11.125.050(3)).

Who can't witness or serve

If you use witnesses, RCW 11.125.050(1) disqualifies two groups: anyone who is a
"home care provider for the principal" or a "care provider at an adult family home
or long-term care facility in which the principal resides," and anyone "unrelated
to the principal or agent by blood, marriage, or state registered domestic
partnership" — read in context, the witnesses must not be your (or the agent's)
care providers, and the statute bars care providers from serving.

The limits on who may be your agent are more pointed. Under RCW 11.125.400(3),
unless the person is your "spouse, state registered domestic partner, father or
mother, or adult child or brother or sister," none of your physicians, their
employees, or the owners, administrators, or employees of the health care or
long-term care facility where you live or get care may serve as your agent.

When the agent can act

This turns on the durability language. RCW 11.125.040 says a power of attorney
"terminates upon the incapacity of the principal" unless the writing says it
is "not ... affected by disability of the principal" (durable, effective as soon
as signed) or "effective upon the disability of the principal" (springing — the
agent waits until you become incapacitated). A health care appointment must
therefore include durable language; if it does not spring on incapacity, the
agent's authority exists as soon as the document is signed (as a practical matter,
providers turn to the agent when you cannot give your own informed consent).

Agent's powers and limits

Two things must line up. First, the authority to make health care decisions must
be expressly granted: RCW 11.125.240(1)(l) lets an agent "[m]ake health care
decisions for the principal, or give informed consent to health care decisions,"
only "if the power of attorney expressly grants the agent the authority." A
general financial power of attorney that is silent on health care does not appoint
a health care agent. Second, once granted, RCW 11.125.400 makes the agent your
HIPAA personal representative and lets the agent give informed consent to your
care.

Washington then borrows guardianship law for the outer limits. Except where you
have consented in a mental health advance directive (chapter 71.32 RCW) to
inpatient admission or electroconvulsive therapy, your agent's authority "is
subject to the same limitations as those that apply to a guardian under chapter
11.130 RCW" (RCW 11.125.400(3)) — so decisions a guardian cannot make without
court approval, such as involuntary commitment to a mental-health facility, are
off the table for the agent too.

How to revoke

You can revoke at any time: RCW 11.125.100 provides that a power of attorney
terminates when "[t]he principal revokes" it, and an agent's authority terminates
when "[t]he principal revokes the authority." Washington adds an automatic
trigger: filing an action for dissolution, annulment, or legal separation of
your marriage or domestic partnership with the agent terminates the agent's
authority, unless the document says otherwise (RCW 11.125.100(2)(c)). If that
action is later dismissed by consent or withdrawn, the agent's authority is
reinstated (RCW 11.125.100(3)).

Out-of-state directives

RCW 11.125.060(3) honors a power of attorney executed elsewhere: it "is valid in
this state if, when the power of attorney was executed, the execution complied
with ... [t]he law of the jurisdiction that determines the meaning and effect of
the power of attorney." Under RCW 11.125.070, that is the jurisdiction named in
the document, or, if none is named, the one where it was signed.

What trips people up

• A financial power of attorney does not cover health care. Washington
  requires the health-care authority to be expressly granted (RCW
  11.125.240(1)(l)). A general or "durable" power of attorney that never mentions
  health care will not let your agent make medical decisions.
• You need a notary or two witnesses — not both. RCW 11.125.050(1) makes them
  alternatives. Many people over-comply, which is harmless, but neither alone is
  a defect.
• Your care providers can't witness or serve. A home-care worker or a staffer
  at the facility where you live is barred as a witness (RCW 11.125.050(1)), and,
  unless closely related to you, your doctors and facility staff cannot be your
  agent (RCW 11.125.400(3)).
• It must say it survives incapacity. Because a power of attorney otherwise
  ends exactly when you lose capacity (RCW 11.125.040), a health-care appointment
  that omits durable language is useless for its main purpose. Confirm the
  document contains the durability words.
• Filing for divorce cancels a spouse-agent. The agent's authority ends when a
  dissolution, annulment, or legal-separation action is filed — not when it is
  final (RCW 11.125.100(2)(c)). Name a successor agent.

Common questions

Can I just use my financial power of attorney for medical decisions?
Only if it expressly grants health-care authority. RCW 11.125.240(1)(l) requires an
express grant, so a POA that is silent on health care does not appoint a health
care agent.

Does a Washington health care power of attorney have to be notarized?
No. You may either have it notarized or have two qualified witnesses attest your
signature (RCW 11.125.050(1)). Notarizing adds a presumption that the signature is
genuine, but it is not required.

When can my agent start making decisions?
It depends on how the document is written. If it is durable but not springing, the
authority exists once you sign; if it is drafted to be "effective upon the
disability of the principal," the agent waits until you are incapacitated
(RCW 11.125.040). In practice, providers rely on the agent when you cannot give
your own informed consent.

Will the directive I signed in another state work in Washington?
Yes, if it was validly executed under the law of the state that governs it — the
one named in the document or where you signed it (RCW 11.125.060(3), 11.125.070).

Statutes and sources

• RCW 11.125.020 — definitions of "durable" and "principal."
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.020 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.040 — a power of attorney ends on incapacity unless it contains
  durable (or springing) language.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.040 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.050 — execution: signed and dated, and either notarized or
  attested by two qualified witnesses.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.050 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.060 — validity of a power of attorney executed in another
  jurisdiction. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.060 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.070 — the law that determines a power of attorney's meaning and
  effect. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.070 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.100 — termination and revocation, including divorce-filing
  termination of a spouse-agent.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.100 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.240 — an agent may make health care decisions only if expressly
  granted the authority. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.240 (accessed 2026-07-16)
• RCW 11.125.400 — health-care authority, agent disqualifications, and the
  guardian-law limits on the agent's power.
  https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=11.125.400 (accessed 2026-07-16)