Where to Store Your Advance Directive in Washington: Registry, Copies, and Access

Completing your advance directive is only half the job. If no one can find it during a medical emergency, it might as well not exist.

Washington has a unique challenge here: the state once had an official digital registry for healthcare directives, but it's been suspended. That leaves storage and distribution entirely in your hands.

The Washington Health Care Declarations Registry (Suspended)

RCW 70.122.130 authorized the Washington Department of Health to maintain a centralized Health Care Declarations Registry where residents could file their directives digitally. Healthcare providers could then look up a patient's filed directive during an emergency.

The registry has been administratively suspended due to a lack of state funding. Digital submission is unavailable. You cannot rely on the state to store or make your documents accessible.

This makes personal distribution critical.

Who Needs a Copy

Distribute copies of both your Health Care Directive and DPOA-HC to:

Your healthcare agent — the person named in your DPOA-HC. They need the documents immediately accessible, not buried in a filing cabinet. Consider giving them both a physical copy and a digital scan on their phone.

Your primary care physician — ask the office to scan the documents into your electronic health record (EHR). Many practices use systems like Epic or Cerner that flag advance directives when a patient is admitted to an affiliated hospital.

Your local hospital — contact the admitting department and ask about their advance directive registration process. Some hospital systems have their own internal registries. If you use multiple hospital networks (say, Virginia Mason and Swedish), file with each.

Your specialists — any physician you see regularly for ongoing treatment (cardiologist, oncologist, neurologist) should have copies, especially if their specialty relates to conditions that might cause incapacity.

A trusted family member or friend — someone other than your healthcare agent who knows where the originals are and can produce copies in an emergency. This is your backup if your agent is unreachable.

Your attorney — if an estate planning attorney drafted or reviewed your documents, they'll typically keep copies in their client file.

Where to Keep the Original

At home, in a clearly labeled folder — not in a locked safe or safe deposit box. If you're rushed to the ER at 2 AM on a Sunday, no one can access a bank vault. Use a clearly labeled folder (e.g., "ADVANCE DIRECTIVES — MEDICAL EMERGENCY") in a location your healthcare agent and family members know about.

Never in a safe deposit box alone. Banks have limited hours. Even with a co-signer on the box, weekend and holiday emergencies create access gaps that can last days.

Consider a fireproof home safe — one that your healthcare agent has the combination or key to. This protects against fire or flooding while keeping the documents accessible.

Digital Copies

Keep digital scans of your signed documents:

• On your phone — a photo or PDF in a health folder. Some people store them in their phone's Health app (iPhone) or as a note with attachments.
• In cloud storage — Google Drive, iCloud, or Dropbox, shared with your healthcare agent.
• On a wallet card — carry a card that states you have an advance directive on file and lists your healthcare agent's name and phone number. This alerts hospital staff to look for your documents.

Digital copies aren't a substitute for the signed original — but they serve as notice that a directive exists and provide immediate reference while the original is being located.

If You Travel Between States

Washington will honor advance directives executed in other states, as long as the directive's provisions comply with Washington law (RCW 70.122.030(3)). Conversely, if you travel to other states, those states may or may not honor your Washington directive.

If you split time between states, consider:

• Executing directives that comply with both states' laws
• Carrying copies when you travel
• Informing out-of-state physicians that your directive exists

Keeping Documents Current

Set a calendar reminder to review your advance directives annually. Check that:

• Your healthcare agent is still willing, able, and reachable
• Your treatment preferences haven't changed
• Your successor agent is still appropriate
• All distributed copies reflect your current documents (not an outdated version)

After any major life event — divorce, death of your agent, new diagnosis, relocation — review and update immediately. Under RCW 11.125.085, divorce automatically revokes a former spouse's authority as healthcare agent, creating an immediate gap that needs to be filled.

Washington's advance directive kit includes a distribution checklist and storage recommendations so you can systematically ensure your documents are accessible to everyone who needs them.

See more Washington guides →