Oklahoma Living Will Form: Requirements, Witnesses, and Free Download

Most Oklahomans think a living will is a single yes-or-no decision about life support. Oklahoma law actually requires you to make separate choices across three different medical scenarios — and a single disqualified witness can void the entire document.

Here is what Oklahoma's living will actually requires and how to complete it correctly.

What a Living Will Does in Oklahoma

A living will is Part I of Oklahoma's statutory Advance Directive for Health Care. It records your instructions for life-sustaining treatment when you cannot speak for yourself.

Oklahoma law defines three specific clinical triggers. Your living will only activates when two physicians certify in writing that you meet one of these conditions:

1. Terminal condition — an incurable illness where death is expected within six months
2. Persistent unconsciousness — an irreversible coma or vegetative state
3. End-stage condition — severe, permanent physical dependency combined with mental incompetency

You make independent decisions for each scenario. You might want full treatment for an end-stage condition but refuse mechanical ventilation for a terminal diagnosis. The form allows that granularity.

Separate Decisions for Nutrition and Hydration

Oklahoma treats artificial nutrition and hydration differently from other life-sustaining treatments. The form includes a dedicated section asking whether you want feeding tubes and IV fluids continued, withheld, or withdrawn — independent of your choice about ventilators, dialysis, and other interventions.

This distinction matters because some people want comfort measures (including hydration) continued even after refusing mechanical life support. Oklahoma's form lets you specify exactly where you draw that line.

Witness Requirements

Oklahoma requires two adult witnesses (age 18 or older) to watch you sign the living will. Both witnesses must be completely disinterested:

• Cannot be related to you by blood or marriage
• Cannot be beneficiaries of your will
• Cannot be entitled to any portion of your estate under intestate succession

This disqualifies your spouse, children, parents, siblings, and anyone named in your will. Good alternatives include neighbors, coworkers, members of your faith community, or bank employees.

Notarization is not required for a living will to be legally valid in Oklahoma — but it is required for a separate Health Care Power of Attorney, which is a different document with different rules.

The Pregnancy Override

Oklahoma law contains a strict pregnancy limitation: if you are diagnosed as pregnant and your physician knows, life-sustaining treatment must be provided regardless of your living will instructions.

You can override this default — but only by adding explicit, custom-written language to the form specifically authorizing the withholding or withdrawal of treatment during pregnancy. A general statement like "I refuse all life support" is not sufficient. The override language must directly address the pregnancy scenario.

Living Will vs. Health Care Power of Attorney

These two documents serve different functions under Oklahoma's dual-statute system:

A standard HPOA cannot be used to direct the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment unless it specifically incorporates terms from the Advance Directive Act. Most people need both documents to fully protect their medical autonomy.

How to Make Your Living Will Enforceable

1. Use the official Oklahoma statutory form (OKDHS Publication 87-07W) — not a generic template from a national website
2. Complete the treatment preferences for all three clinical triggers
3. Address artificial nutrition and hydration separately
4. Decide whether to include a pregnancy override clause
5. Sign in front of two disinterested adult witnesses
6. Give copies to your physician, your named proxy, and your hospital of choice
7. Keep the original in an accessible location at home — not in a locked safe deposit box

The Oklahoma Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes the complete statutory form with section-by-section instructions, a witness eligibility checklist, and guidance on coordinating your living will with a health care power of attorney under Oklahoma's dual-statute system.

See more Oklahoma guides →