To make a living will in Ohio, you must be a competent adult, put your treatment instructions in writing on a signed and dated declaration, and either have two qualified adult witnesses sign it or acknowledge your signature before a notary public. The document tells your doctors whether to withhold or continue life-sustaining treatment if you become terminally ill or permanently unconscious and can no longer speak for yourself. Get any of the execution rules wrong and the declaration may be disregarded at the moment it matters most.
What Your Living Will Decides
An Ohio living will answers one core question: do you want medical procedures whose main purpose is to delay your death rather than improve your condition? State law calls these “life-sustaining treatments” and defines the term broadly to cover any medical procedure, treatment, or intervention that principally prolongs the dying process.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.01 – Modified Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Mechanical ventilation and dialysis are common examples.
The declaration takes effect only under two medical scenarios, and you choose which ones apply:
- A terminal condition: an irreversible, incurable, and untreatable condition from which there can be no recovery, with death likely within a relatively short time without life-sustaining treatment.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.01 – Modified Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill
- A permanently unconscious state: an irreversible condition marked by total loss of cerebral cortical functioning, meaning no awareness of yourself or your environment and no capacity to experience pain or suffering.1Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.01 – Modified Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill
You can write your declaration to cover one scenario or both. Two physicians must independently confirm you meet the criteria before the document controls your care.
Nutrition and Hydration Is a Separate Choice
Artificially supplied nutrition and hydration, such as a feeding tube, is not automatically included in “life-sustaining treatment” under Ohio law. If you want tube feeding withheld or withdrawn while you are permanently unconscious, you have to authorize that separately. The form requires a conspicuous statement (capital letters, bold type, or a checked box) granting that permission.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133 Even with your authorization, nutrition and hydration can only be withdrawn if two physicians determine it no longer provides comfort or alleviates pain.3Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.09 – Withholding or Withdrawing Nutrition and Hydration From Patient Who Has Been in Permanently Unconscious State for at Least 12 Months Skip the section or leave it uninitialed and the default is that tube feeding continues.
CPR and DNR Are Different
The form lets you specifically authorize the withholding or withdrawal of CPR, though leaving that section blank does not prevent CPR decisions from being made under other provisions of the law.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133 A living will is not a Do Not Resuscitate order. A DNR is a separate medical order signed by your physician that addresses cardiac or respiratory arrest in emergency situations. If you want paramedics or emergency responders to refrain from CPR, you need a DNR in addition to your living will.
Who Can Make One
You must be at least 18, of sound mind, and acting voluntarily. Nobody can execute a living will on your behalf while you still have the capacity to do it yourself.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133
How to Sign It So It Holds Up
The declaration must be in writing, signed at the end (by you or by someone else at your direction), and dated. From there, Ohio gives you two ways to complete execution:2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133
- Sign in front of two adult witnesses, who then sign attesting that you appear to be of sound mind and are not under duress or undue influence.
- Sign in front of a notary public, who verifies your identity and attests that you appear to be of sound mind and are not acting under duress. Notarization replaces the witness requirement entirely.
Not everyone qualifies as a witness. Your witnesses cannot be:
- Related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption
- Your attending physician
- The administrator of a nursing home where you receive care
Neighbors, coworkers, and friends who are not related to you and have no role in your medical care are usually safe choices.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133
Filling Out the Ohio Form
Ohio’s standard Living Will Declaration form is available from hospitals, attorneys, county probate courts, and online. Using the official form is the safest route because it tracks the statutory requirements closely, including the conspicuous-type formatting needed for the nutrition and hydration section.4University Hospitals. Ohio Living Will Declaration
Working through the form, you will:
- State whether your declaration applies to a terminal condition, a permanently unconscious state, or both
- Decide whether life-sustaining treatment should be withheld or withdrawn under those conditions
- Separately indicate, with initials, a checkbox, or a conspicuous statement, whether artificially supplied nutrition and hydration should be withheld or withdrawn if you are permanently unconscious
- Optionally name people to be notified when the declaration becomes operative
Naming specific contacts is optional but recommended. If you leave that section blank, your attending physician is required to work through a statutory list of relatives to notify, which takes time and can create confusion during an emergency.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133
The Pregnancy Limit
Ohio law includes a restriction most people don’t anticipate. If you are pregnant, life-sustaining treatment cannot be withheld or withdrawn under your living will if doing so would end the pregnancy. The only exception is when your attending physician and one other physician determine, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the fetus would not be born alive.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.06 – Patient to Make Decisions While Able This applies regardless of what your declaration says and regardless of the stage of pregnancy.
Getting Copies Where They Need to Go
A signed declaration sitting in a drawer doesn’t help anyone. Your living will only becomes operative once your attending physician has a copy or has been told about it, both physicians have examined you and confirmed you meet the terminal or permanently unconscious criteria your declaration covers, and your attending physician has determined you can no longer make informed decisions about your own treatment.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133 Until then, you remain in charge of your care.5Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.06 – Patient to Make Decisions While Able
Give a copy to your primary care physician and ask that it be added to your medical record. Do the same with specialists you see regularly. If you also have a healthcare power of attorney, give a copy to your agent, and to close family members who might be involved in medical decisions.
Keep the original somewhere safe but reachable. A locked safe deposit box is a poor choice because your family may not be able to open it during a medical emergency. A fireproof home safe, a filing cabinet, or a clearly labeled folder your family knows about all work better. Tell your family and your healthcare agent where the original is.
Changing or Revoking It
Ohio makes revocation easy. You can revoke your living will at any time and in any manner. No form, no waiting period, no witness required.6Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.04 – Revocation of Declaration You can tear it up, tell your doctor you revoke it, or simply say so out loud. The catch is timing: if your physician already knows about the declaration, the revocation takes effect only once the physician has been told about it. Until then, the old declaration is still in play.
Signing a new living will automatically revokes the earlier one, unless the earlier document says otherwise.6Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code 2133.04 – Revocation of Declaration After you update it, collect and destroy old copies from physicians and family members, and ask each physician’s office to replace the old version in your record. There is no expiration date on an Ohio living will; it stays valid indefinitely until you revoke it.
Events worth prompting a review include a new diagnosis, a marriage or divorce, the death of a person you named for notification, or a change of heart about the treatment you want.
Living Will Versus Healthcare Power of Attorney
A living will and a healthcare power of attorney do different jobs, and most people should have both. The living will only speaks to two narrow scenarios: terminal illness and permanent unconsciousness. A healthcare power of attorney names a person (your agent) to make medical decisions for you whenever you cannot make them yourself, whether or not the situation is life-threatening.
If both documents exist and they conflict, Ohio law is clear: the living will controls. Your agent under a healthcare power of attorney cannot override the instructions in your living will when you are in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state.2Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 2133 For every medical situation the living will doesn’t reach, such as temporary incapacity after surgery or a serious injury that isn’t terminal, the healthcare power of attorney fills the gap.