Delaware Advance Directive Storage and Revocation: Where to Keep It and How to Change It

Completing a Delaware advance directive is half the job. If no one can find it during a medical emergency — or if it still reflects wishes you changed your mind about years ago — it might as well not exist.

Here's how to store it so it's actually accessible when needed, and how to revoke or update it when your circumstances change.

Where to Store Your Directive

The goal is immediate accessibility. The people who need to see this document — your healthcare agent, emergency responders, hospital staff — need to find it within minutes, not days.

Your physician's office. Ask your primary care doctor to scan the signed original into your electronic health record. When you're admitted to ChristianaCare, Beebe Healthcare, or Bayhealth, the care team can pull it up immediately.

Your healthcare agent. Give a signed copy to your primary agent and alternate agent. They're the ones who will present it to medical staff during a crisis.

Your home — in an accessible location. Not a locked safe deposit box. Not buried in a filing cabinet. Paramedics responding to a 911 call need to see a DMOST form (the physician-signed medical order), but hospital staff who arrive later will look for the directive itself.

Many Delaware families use the "Bright Pink Envelope" system: the DMOST form and a copy of the advance directive go in a brightly colored envelope posted on the refrigerator or inside the front door. EMS personnel are trained to look for these.

Do NOT rely on a single copy. Distribute it to:

• Primary healthcare agent
• Alternate healthcare agent
• Primary physician (for EHR scanning)
• Hospital system (many allow pre-registration of directives)
• Your home (accessible location)

Do NOT store it only in a safe deposit box. Your agent may not have access, and banks are closed on evenings and weekends — exactly when emergencies happen.

How to Revoke Your Directive

Under Delaware law, you can revoke your advance health-care directive at any time, as long as you have decision-making capacity. Revocation can happen through:

Written revocation. Sign and date a written statement that you revoke your previous directive. Notify your healthcare agent and physician in writing.

Physical destruction. Tear up, burn, or destroy the original. This is straightforward but dangerous if copies exist — a provider with an old copy in their system may not know you revoked it.

Executing a new directive. A new AHCD automatically supersedes any previous one. The most recent dated document controls.

Verbal revocation. Delaware recognizes verbal revocation made in the presence of a witness, but this creates proof problems. Written revocation is always safer.

Updating Without Full Revocation

If you want to change one part — swap your healthcare agent, update treatment instructions, add organ donation preferences — you have two options:

Execute an entirely new directive. The cleanest approach. Complete the full form again with your updated choices, sign with two qualified witnesses, and distribute it. The new document's date makes it controlling.

Add a written addendum. Less common and potentially confusing. Some attorneys draft amendments, but they create interpretation problems when providers hold different versions. A fresh document is cleaner.

After Revocation or Update

When you change your directive, actively retrieve old copies:

1. Notify your physician's office to update (or remove) the document in your EHR
2. Tell your former healthcare agent they're no longer designated
3. Notify your new agent and provide them a copy
4. Replace copies at home with the current version
5. If you have a DMOST form, discuss with your physician whether it needs updating to match your new directive — a DMOST reflecting outdated preferences creates conflicts

When to Review Your Directive

Review every two to three years, or immediately when:

• Your named agent dies, becomes incapacitated, or you lose trust in their judgment
• Your spouse and agent divorces you (some states automatically revoke spousal designations; check Delaware specifics)
• You receive a new medical diagnosis that changes your treatment preferences
• You move into a long-term care facility (the ombudsperson witness requirement applies)
• You move out of Delaware (your directive remains valid, but the new state's laws may differ)

The Delaware Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes a document distribution tracker, storage instructions for the Bright Pink Envelope system, and a revocation template for clean updates.

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