Arkansas Advance Directive: What It Covers and How to Complete It

Every website calls it something different. Living will. Healthcare proxy. Advance care plan. Medical power of attorney. If you've been searching "arkansas advance directive form" trying to figure out whether you need one document or five, you're not alone — and the confusion is exactly where families make costly mistakes.

Here's the plain truth: under the Arkansas Healthcare Decisions Act of 2013, an "advance directive" is the umbrella term that covers two separate legal documents, plus coordination with clinical medical orders. Let's break down what you actually need.

The Two Documents Inside an Arkansas Advance Directive

1. The Advance Care Plan (Living Will)

This documents your specific treatment preferences — what interventions you want or refuse — for terminal illness or permanent unconsciousness. It covers decisions about CPR, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition, and comfort care measures.

The Advance Care Plan only activates when a physician determines you've lost decision-making capacity AND you meet one of the two triggering conditions (terminal or permanently unconscious).

2. The Appointment of Health Care Agent (Medical Power of Attorney)

This designates a specific person to make medical decisions on your behalf during any period of incapacity — not just terminal situations. Your agent can consent to treatment, refuse procedures, choose facilities, and authorize hospice.

The critical difference: a living will is limited to end-of-life scenarios. A healthcare agent has authority during any temporary incapacity — after surgery, during a medical emergency, or if you develop dementia.

You should execute both documents. A living will without an agent leaves gaps in non-terminal situations. An agent without written preferences has to guess your wishes under pressure.

How to Complete the Arkansas Advance Directive Forms

The Arkansas Department of Health provides standardized forms free of charge. But the forms themselves are raw Word document templates with no execution guidance — which is where most errors happen.

Execution Requirements (Arkansas Code § 20-6-103)

Your completed advance directive must be:

1. Signed by you (or by another adult in your presence at your explicit direction)
2. Finalized through either:
   • Notarization before a notary public, OR
   • Attestation by two competent adult witnesses

Witness Rules (If Not Using a Notary)

• Neither witness can be your designated healthcare agent
• At least one witness must be unrelated to you by blood, marriage, or adoption
• That witness must have no claim to your estate (under any will or by intestate succession)
• The document must contain the statutory attestation clause

Get any of these wrong and the hospital defaults to the statutory surrogate hierarchy — which may put an estranged relative in charge of your care instead of the person you chose.

What an Advance Directive Does NOT Do

Understanding the boundaries prevents dangerous assumptions:

• It does not control emergency responders. Paramedics cannot interpret a living will. You need a separate POLST form (physician-signed) or EMS-DNR order for emergency situations at home.
• It does not grant financial authority. Your healthcare agent cannot sell property, access bank accounts, or deal with dower/curtesy rights. That requires a separate financial power of attorney.
• It does not override pregnancy restrictions. Under Arkansas law, life-sustaining treatment will be maintained during pregnancy if the fetus could potentially develop to live birth, regardless of your written preferences.
• It does not require an attorney. The standardized forms are free and legally sufficient without legal counsel — though complex blended family situations may benefit from professional guidance.

Out-of-State Directive Portability

If you moved to Arkansas with an advance directive from another state, it remains valid under Arkansas Code § 20-6-103(h) — provided it complied with either Arkansas law or the law of the state where you executed it. However, you should still ask your Arkansas physician to translate your wishes into the official pink POLST form so local EMS can act on them without delay.

Where to Store Your Completed Forms

Filing the forms in a drawer defeats the purpose. Your advance directive must be accessible when providers need it:

• Upload copies to your primary care physician's EHR (UAMS MyChart, Baptist Health portal)
• Give copies to your designated healthcare agent and alternate
• Consider filing with the Arkansas Secretary of State
• Keep originals in a known, accessible location (not a safe deposit box that requires a key and bank visit during a crisis)

Revocation

You can revoke your advance directive at any time while you have capacity. Any form of communication to your treating physician is sufficient. Arkansas also automatically revokes a spouse's designation as agent upon filing for divorce, annulment, or legal separation — unless the document explicitly states otherwise.

Rural Arkansas: Notary Alternatives

If you live in a rural area without easy notary access, the two-witness option is legally equivalent. The key is finding at least one witness who is entirely unrelated and has no inheritance claim. In small communities, consider asking a bank employee, pastor from a different congregation, postal worker, or coworker with no family connection.

Many hospitals and nursing facilities also have notary services available — but don't wait until admission day. Complete your advance directive while you're healthy and thinking clearly, not under the time pressure of a scheduled procedure.

Complete Your Arkansas Advance Directive Without the Confusion

The Arkansas Advance Directive & Living Will Kit packages both forms with a witness eligibility checklist, treatment preference matrix, POLST coordination tracker, and distribution log. Instead of downloading raw state templates and hoping you execute them correctly, get a guided system that walks you through every step and connects your legal documents to the clinical orders that actually control what happens in an emergency.

See more Arkansas guides →