Maryland Advance Directive Form

Two Documents in One Form

Maryland combines what most states treat as separate paperwork into a single advance directive under Health-General Article Section 5-602. Part I lets your parent designate a health care agent — the person who makes medical decisions when the parent cannot. Part II is the living will, where your parent specifies treatment preferences for terminal conditions, persistent vegetative states, and end-stage conditions.

Your parent can complete either part alone or both together. Most families fill out both, because the health care agent handles situations the living will does not anticipate.

Choosing a Health Care Agent

The agent your parent names gets broad authority: consenting to or refusing medical procedures, selecting physicians and facilities, accessing protected medical records, and making end-of-life decisions. Your parent should also name at least one successor agent in case the primary agent is unavailable during a crisis.

Maryland restricts who can serve. An owner, operator, or employee of a health care facility where your parent currently receives care cannot be the agent — unless that person is related to your parent by blood, marriage, or adoption. This prevents conflicts of interest between the facility's preferences and the patient's wishes.

Living Will Preferences

Part II asks your parent to make decisions about three clinical scenarios:

• Terminal condition: An incurable illness where death is expected regardless of treatment
• Persistent vegetative state: Consciousness is permanently lost, but the body continues basic functions
• End-stage condition: An advanced, irreversible condition with severe and permanent mental and physical deterioration

For each scenario, your parent checks whether to continue or withhold life-sustaining procedures, artificial nutrition, and hydration. These preferences apply when the doctors responsible for the parent's care certify that the applicable condition exists.

Witness Requirements

Maryland's advance directive does not require notarization. It must be signed by the principal in the presence of two competent adult witnesses, with two restrictions:

1. The designated health care agent cannot serve as a witness. If your parent names you as agent, you cannot also witness the signing.
2. At least one witness must be disinterested — they cannot inherit from your parent's estate and cannot have a direct financial claim or benefit resulting from your parent's death.

These rules are stricter than the financial POA witness requirements. Plan the signing so you have the right people present — a neighbor or other adult who will not inherit from your parent and has no direct financial claim or benefit from your parent's death works for the disinterested witness role.

Where to File the Completed Form

Upload the signed document to MyDirectives.com, Maryland's official free online advance directive registry. The platform connects to the state's health information exchange, so emergency departments and hospitals can pull up the directive when your parent arrives without the physical document.

Also give copies to your parent's primary care physician, the named health care agent, and any hospital or facility where your parent receives regular care. Keep the original in a location the agent can access quickly — a safe at home is fine, a safe deposit box that the agent cannot open during a weekend emergency is not.

The Difference Between an Advance Directive and a Medical POA

You will see "medical power of attorney" and "health care power of attorney" used interchangeably online. Maryland does not have a standalone medical POA document. The advance directive under HG Section 5-602 is the vehicle for appointing a health care agent. Searching for a separate "medical power of attorney form" in Maryland leads to the same advance directive.

The financial power of attorney under Estates and Trusts Title 17 is a completely different document covering banking, property, and financial decisions — not medical ones. Most families need both.

The Maryland Power of Attorney and Guardianship Kit includes step-by-step instructions for both documents, with a signing ceremony protocol that coordinates the advance directive and financial POA so your parent can execute both in a single session.

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