Living Will and Advance Health-Care Instruction Requirements in Georgia

At a glance

Georgia no longer uses a separate living-will form for newly executed documents. Its Advance Directive for Health Care Act places the adult's own treatment preferences in Part Two of a combined directive. Part Two may be completed without appointing an agent in Part One. O.C.G.A. § 31-32-1 names the chapter the “Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care Act.”

Requirements one by one

A written directive uses two qualified witnesses

Under O.C.G.A. § 31-32-5, a person of sound mind who is 18 or older or emancipated may execute the directive. It must be written and signed by the declarant, or by another person in the declarant's presence and at the declarant's express direction.

Two witnesses of sound mind and age 18 or older attest and subscribe in the declarant's presence. They need not be together and need not have watched the declarant sign. Neither may be the selected health-care agent, someone who knowingly will inherit or gain financially from the death, or someone directly involved in the declarant's care. Only one may be an employee, agent, or medical staff member of the facility providing care.

No notary is required. The optional § 31-32-4 form requires the declarant to sign and date, or acknowledge signing and dating, before the witnesses. The Act permits another complying form, and its general execution subsection does not separately require a date. Chapter 32 creates no express electronic or remote-execution route.

Part Two has communication and medical-condition triggers

The statutory Part Two becomes effective only when the declarant cannot communicate treatment preferences after reasonable and appropriate efforts to communicate. It can operate without an agent. If Part One names an agent, the form gives that agent authority over matters covered by Part Two, guided by the stated preferences and the Act's agent standards.

Before withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining procedures, nourishment, or hydration under the directive, § 31-32-9 requires written certification by two physicians, one the attending physician. Each personally examines the declarant and certifies either a terminal condition or permanent unconsciousness under currently accepted medical standards.

A terminal condition is incurable or irreversible and would result in death in a relatively short time. Permanent unconsciousness is an incurable or irreversible condition in which the declarant is unaware of self and environment and shows no behavioral response.

Nutrition, hydration, and pain relief stay separate

Section 31-32-2 defines life-sustaining procedures as medications, machines, and other interventions that could keep the person alive but cannot cure the person, when the two physicians judge death would occur without them. The definition expressly excludes nourishment and hydration, so a directive addresses nutrition and fluids separately.

The statutory form offers choices to provide or withhold life-sustaining procedures. It separately addresses tube or medically supplied nutrition, fluids, ventilation, and CPR. Pain-alleviating medication and procedures are excluded from “life-sustaining procedures,” and the provider duty remains subject to comfort and pain relief.

Pregnancy requires nonviability and an express instruction

Before carrying out withholding or withdrawal, the attending physician must determine that the declarant is not pregnant. If pregnant, § 31-32-9(a)(1) requires both that the fetus is not viable and that the directive specifically says the declarant's withholding or withdrawal directions are to be carried out. Chapter 32 does not define a separate week or trimester threshold in this provision.

O.C.G.A. § 31-32-14(b) says the chapter does not authorize mercy killing, an affirmative or deliberate act or omission to end life beyond the chapter's dying process, or abortion.

Revocation remains available regardless of competency

Under § 31-32-6, the declarant may revoke at any time regardless of mental state or competency. Methods include a later inconsistent directive; directed destruction; a signed and dated written revocation; or an oral or other clear expression before a witness age 18 or older. For the last route, the witness must sign and date a confirming writing within 30 days.

When the declarant is receiving care in a facility, a written or oral revocation becomes effective upon communication to the attending physician. The physician must record the details specified for that revocation method. Chapter 32 creates no advance-directive registry.

The refusing physician follows a defined transfer process

A provider given a copy adds it to the medical record and records any known change or termination under § 31-32-8. Section 31-32-9 separately requires the directive and the two-physician certification to become part of the record.

If the attending physician will not carry out the declarant's instructions, the physician promptly notifies the appointed agent or, if none, the next of kin or guardian. At that person's election, the physician either makes a good- faith transfer attempt or permits that person to obtain another physician.

Georgia treats a document executed in another state and valid under that state's law as a complying Georgia advance directive (§ 31-32-5(b)).

What trips people up

• Part Two can stand on its own. The combined form does not require an agent appointment for treatment preferences to operate.
• “Life-sustaining procedures” excludes nutrition and hydration. Tube nutrition and fluids require separate treatment in the directive.
• Pregnancy is not covered by a generic viability clause alone. The fetus must be nonviable and the directive must specifically call for the stated withholding or withdrawal directions to be carried out.
• Oral revocation has a confirmation step. The adult witness must make the signed and dated writing within 30 days.

Common questions

Must the Georgia directive be notarized?

No. It requires two qualified adult witnesses. The statutory form expressly says it does not need notarization.

Must I appoint a health-care agent?

No. Part Two remains effective even if Part One is not completed. If an agent is appointed, the form gives that agent authority over matters covered by Part Two, guided by the preferences.

Can the directive address tube feeding and fluids?

Yes. Georgia separates nourishment and hydration from its definition of life- sustaining procedures, and the form supplies separate choices.

Is an out-of-state directive recognized?

Yes. A document valid under the law of the state where it was executed is treated as a complying Georgia advance directive.

Statutes and sources

• O.C.G.A. §§ 31-32-2, -4, and -5 — definitions, optional combined form, treatment architecture, execution, witnesses, copies, and out-of-state recognition. Official public-domain OCGA Title 31 distribution (accessed 2026-07-30).
• O.C.G.A. §§ 31-32-6, -8, -9, and -14 — revocation, medical records, condition certification, pregnancy, refusal and transfer, and legal limits. Official public-domain OCGA Title 31 distribution (accessed 2026-07-30).