How to Revoke an Advance Directive in Georgia

Georgia lets you revoke your advance directive at any time, for any reason, without needing a lawyer or a court order. But the revocation process has requirements that catch people off guard — especially oral revocations, which must be documented in writing within 30 days to be effective.

If you've changed your mind about your healthcare agent, your treatment preferences, or anything else in your directive, here's how to do it properly under O.C.G.A. § 31-32.

Three Ways to Revoke

1. Written revocation. The cleanest method. Write and sign a statement that says you revoke your Georgia Advance Directive for Health Care, dated and signed. No witnesses or notary required for the revocation itself. Deliver copies to everyone who holds the original directive — your agent, doctor, hospital, and any other distributed copies.

2. Physical destruction. Tear it up, shred it, or burn it. The act of destroying the document constitutes revocation. The obvious limitation: this only destroys the copy in front of you. If your doctor's office has a copy in your medical record, that copy still exists and could create confusion.

3. Oral revocation. You can verbally state that you revoke your advance directive. But here's the critical requirement: an adult witness must be present, and that witness must reduce the oral revocation to writing within 30 days. If the 30-day documentation window passes without a written record, the oral revocation may not be enforceable.

Additionally, if you make an oral revocation while in a healthcare facility, the revocation must be communicated directly to your attending physician and documented in your medical record.

Partial Revocation vs. Full Replacement

You don't have to revoke the entire directive to change one part. You can:

• Replace your healthcare agent by executing a new directive naming a different person. The newest document supersedes the old one on any conflicting provisions.
• Update treatment preferences by adding a written amendment that references the original document. The amendment should be signed and witnessed with the same formality as the original.
• Revoke only Part One, Two, or Three by specifying which section you're revoking in your written statement.

In practice, most attorneys and planning guides recommend executing a complete new directive rather than trying to amend the old one. A fresh document eliminates any ambiguity about which provisions are current.

The Notification Problem

Revocation only works if everyone who matters knows about it. A revoked directive sitting in your doctor's files looks identical to a valid one unless someone updates the record. After any revocation:

1. Notify your healthcare agent and alternate agent in writing
2. Contact your physician's office and ask them to update your medical record
3. Notify any hospital or facility where you filed a copy
4. Retrieve and destroy physical copies where possible
5. If you use a digital backup, delete or clearly mark the file as revoked

If you're executing a new directive to replace the old one, distribute the new document to all the same parties and explicitly tell them it supersedes the previous version.

When Revocation Happens Automatically

Georgia law treats certain life events as triggers that may affect (but don't automatically revoke) your directive:

• Divorce: If your spouse is your healthcare agent and you divorce, their authority is automatically revoked under Georgia law — you don't need to separately revoke the directive, but you should execute a new one naming a different agent.
• Death of your agent: If your primary agent dies and you haven't named an alternate, the directive's proxy provisions are effectively voided. Your treatment preferences in Part Two remain valid.

Neither of these revokes the entire document — they affect only the agent appointment.

The Georgia Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes revocation templates and a distribution tracker so you can manage the notification process and ensure no outdated copies remain in circulation.

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