Vermont Living Will: What It Covers and How to Make One Legal

Most states treat a living will as a standalone document that records your treatment preferences if you become incapacitated. Vermont does something different. Under 18 V.S.A. § 9703, the state consolidates what other jurisdictions call a "living will" and a "healthcare proxy" into a single legal instrument: the advance directive.

This matters because if you search for a "Vermont living will form," you won't find a separate document. You'll find the Vermont advance directive, which handles both your treatment instructions and your healthcare agent appointment in one package.

What a Vermont Living Will Actually Includes

The advance directive lets you document two categories of decisions:

Treatment preferences (the "living will" portion): Whether you want CPR, mechanical ventilation, artificial nutrition and hydration, dialysis, or other life-sustaining interventions if you lose decision-making capacity. You can set different instructions for different scenarios — a temporary coma versus a permanent vegetative state versus terminal illness with no reasonable chance of recovery.

Healthcare agent appointment (the "proxy" portion): You name a person to make medical decisions on your behalf when you cannot communicate. This agent has broad authority to consent to, refuse, or withdraw treatment based on your documented values.

The Vermont Ethics Network (VEN) publishes two widely used versions: a Short Form for straightforward agent appointments and basic preferences, and a Long Form that includes provisions for mental health or psychiatric care decisions.

Execution Requirements That Trip People Up

Vermont does not require notarization for a living will to be legally valid. But the witness rules are strict, and a witness defect means you should re-execute the document with qualified witnesses.

You need two adult witnesses (age 18+) who watch you sign. The following people are disqualified:

• Your appointed healthcare agent or alternates
• Your spouse or reciprocal beneficiary
• Parents, siblings, children, or grandchildren
• Anyone who stands to inherit from your estate

That last point catches people off guard. A friend who is named in your will cannot serve as a witness. Healthcare providers currently treating you, however, are permitted — unlike many other states.

Since April 2024, Vermont allows remote witnessing. A witness can participate via live audio-video or telephone if they know you personally, attest that you appear to understand the document, and attest you're acting free of duress. You must record each remote witness's name, contact information, and relationship on the document itself.

Why This Matters More in Vermont Than Most States

Vermont has no default surrogate decision-maker law. In most states, if you become incapacitated without any advance planning, your spouse or adult children can step in and make medical decisions on your behalf through a statutory hierarchy.

Vermont offers no such safety net. Without a signed advance directive, your family has no general legal authority over your medical care. For other medical decisions, the facility consults ethics resources and may initiate emergency or permanent guardianship proceedings through the Probate Division — a process that takes weeks and costs thousands of dollars while you lie in a bed with no one authorized to make decisions. A narrow exception permits interested individuals to designate one surrogate for consent to a DNR or COLST order when the patient lacks capacity, has no agent, and has no guardian.

How to Register Your Living Will

After signing, submit a copy to the Vermont Advance Directive Registry (VADR) through the Vermont Ethics Network. Registration is free for all Vermont residents. You can upload a PDF through the online portal, or mail, fax, or email a copy with the VADR Combined Registration Agreement & Change Form.

Registration is not legally required, but Vermont hospitals must query the VADR database when admitting a patient without decision-making capacity. Having your directive on file means the hospital can access your wishes rather than waiting for a family member to locate a paper copy.

Keep the signed original in an accessible location at home — not a bank safe deposit box, which may be sealed at death. Give copies to your healthcare agent, your primary care physician, and any specialists managing chronic conditions.

The Living Will Doesn't Cover Emergencies

One critical gap: a living will (advance directive) is a planning document, not a medical order. Emergency first responders cannot legally honor it. If you collapse at home and call 911, paramedics will administer CPR and intubation regardless of what your advance directive says.

To prevent unwanted emergency interventions, you need a separate Clinician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (COLST) form — Vermont's order rather than the national POLST framework. A COLST must be signed by an MD, DO, PA, or APRN after a clinical conversation. The signed form goes on your refrigerator where first responders can find it.

Your advance directive and COLST work together: the directive guides long-term care planning, while the COLST governs emergency situations.

The Vermont Advance Directive & Living Will Kit walks you through both documents with step-by-step instructions, witness verification tools, and VADR registration guidance — so nothing falls through the cracks.

See more Vermont guides →