Colorado Advance Directive Form: Which Documents You Actually Need

"Advance directive" is not a single form — it is an umbrella term for several legally distinct documents, each serving a different purpose. Downloading one template from a state website and assuming you are covered is the most common planning mistake Colorado families make. It leaves gaps that surface during the exact emergencies these documents are supposed to prevent.

Here is what Colorado law actually requires, how the pieces fit together, and what happens when any one of them is missing.

The Four Documents That Make Up a Complete Colorado Advance Directive

1. Medical Durable Power of Attorney (MDPOA)

Governed by C.R.S. § 15-14-501, the MDPOA names one person — your healthcare agent — to make medical decisions if you cannot communicate. This is arguably the most important document because it covers situations your living will cannot anticipate. A living will addresses only terminal illness and persistent vegetative state. Your MDPOA agent handles everything else: surgical consent, medication decisions, hospital transfers, rehabilitation choices, and discharge planning.

Colorado does not require witnesses or notarization for the MDPOA to be legally valid, though adding one or both strengthens its acceptance across state lines.

2. Living Will (Declaration as to Medical or Surgical Treatment)

The living will, under C.R.S. § 15-18-104, documents your specific treatment preferences — ventilator use, feeding tubes, life support withdrawal — but only activates after two physicians certify that you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious. It requires either two disinterested witnesses or notarization.

3. CPR Directive

Colorado's outpatient CPR Directive is a physician-signed medical order — not a legal form you can complete at home alone. It instructs EMTs and paramedics on whether to perform resuscitation if your heart stops outside of a hospital. Without this document physically present in your home, first responders are legally required to perform full CPR regardless of what your living will says.

4. MOST Form (Medical Orders for Scope of Treatment)

The MOST form goes further than a CPR directive. It covers resuscitation, hospital transfer preferences, mechanical ventilation, IV antibiotics, and artificial nutrition. Like the CPR directive, it is a medical order that must be signed by your physician, APRN, or PA. It is designed for people with serious chronic illness, advanced frailty, or a terminal diagnosis — it is not typically used for healthy adults doing routine planning.

How These Documents Work Together

Think of your advance directive as a layered system:

• The MDPOA names your decision-maker for any medical situation
• The living will gives that decision-maker (and your doctors) written instructions for end-of-life scenarios
• The CPR directive tells emergency responders what to do in the first critical minutes
• The MOST form gives your care team standing medical orders for ongoing treatment decisions

Missing any layer creates a gap. An MDPOA without a living will forces your agent to guess your wishes. A living will without a CPR directive means EMTs will perform resuscitation even if you documented a preference against it. The most dangerous gap: having no MDPOA at all, which triggers Colorado's proxy consensus requirement and potentially forces your family into probate court.

Execution Requirements at a Glance

The living will is the only document with strict execution formalities. The MDPOA is the most flexible. The two clinical documents (CPR directive and MOST) require your doctor's involvement and signature.

Get All Four Documents in One Kit

Piecing together free forms from different state websites leaves you vulnerable to formatting mismatches, missing coordination language, and execution errors. The Colorado Advance Directive & Living Will Kit packages all four document types with step-by-step instructions, a witness screening checklist, and a coordination guide so your documents work as a unified system — not scattered paperwork.

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