Your Vermont Wishes, Buried in a Filing Cabinet Nobody Checks
You told your daughter what you want. You told your doctor. You even wrote it down on a hospital form someone handed you during a routine visit.
But here is what Vermont law actually says: if EMS arrives at your home and finds you unresponsive, they must perform CPR — even if your advance directive is sitting in the next room. Even if your family is standing right there, begging them to stop. Your advance directive is not a medical order. It cannot stop resuscitation.
And it gets worse. Vermont is one of the few states in the country with no default surrogate law. If you lose capacity without a valid directive naming a healthcare agent, your spouse cannot automatically make decisions for you. Your adult children cannot step in. The only path left is probate court guardianship — weeks of legal proceedings, thousands in attorney fees, while your care hangs in limbo.
The Vermont Directive Defense System
The Vermont Advance Directive & Living Will Kit is not another blank form. It is a complete defense system built around the specific legal tripwires that invalidate Vermont directives — the witness disqualifications most families do not know about, the care-facility affirmation requirement that catches every nursing home admission off guard, and the COLST coordination gap that leaves your emergency wishes unenforceable.
Every section maps directly to Vermont statute. Every checklist step has a reason. And the entire system is designed so that when the moment comes — at 2 a.m. in an ER, in a nursing home intake, in a family meeting nobody wanted to have — your documented wishes hold up.
What's Inside the Kit
Your purchase includes 11 PDFs — a 14-chapter guide plus 9 standalone printable tools you can bring to the signing table, the doctor's office, or the town clerk.
- 14-Chapter Guide (guide.pdf) — The complete Vermont advance directive reference covering healthcare proxy selection, witness rules, COLST/DNR coordination, VADR registration, financial POA execution, estate tax planning, Medicaid recovery protections, Act 39 medical aid in dying, dementia planning, organ donation, probate, and vehicle transfers.
- Quick-Start Checklist (checklist.pdf) — A 20-item action checklist that sequences every step from choosing your healthcare agent through filing your financial POA at the town clerk's office.
- Witness Verification Walkthrough (witness-verification.pdf) — Disqualified vs. qualified witnesses at a glance, remote witnessing rules under H.469/Act 88, and a fill-in worksheet to verify both witnesses before signing day.
- COLST & DNR Coordination Guide (colst-coordination.pdf) — How to get your clinician to translate your directive into a signed COLST order — the only document that stops unwanted resuscitation at home. Includes the four COLST sections and step-by-step instructions.
- VADR Registration Walkthrough (vadr-registration.pdf) — Step-by-step guide for registering your directive with Vermont's free state registry, including online upload and mail-in options. Hospitals are required to check it on admission.
- Care Facility Affirmation Protocol (care-facility-affirmation.pdf) — The third-party affirmation requirement for nursing home and hospital residents, who qualifies as an explainer, and a fill-in tracker for your facility's explainer.
- Financial POA & Town Clerk Filing (financial-poa-filing.pdf) — Notarization requirements under the 2023 Uniform POA Act, town-by-town recording instructions for real estate, recording fee schedule, and a POA filing tracker.
- Estate Tax & Medicaid Recovery Reference (estate-tax-medicaid-reference.pdf) — The 16% flat tax, the portability trap, probate-only Medicaid recovery rules, absolute recovery blocks, the $7,500 small-estate floor, and homestead hardship exemptions on one printable sheet.
- Act 39 Medical Aid-in-Dying Reference (act39-reference.pdf) — Eligibility requirements, the 6-step request process, written request witness restrictions, and the critical limitation that aid in dying cannot be requested via advance directive.
- Dementia Planning Worksheet (dementia-planning-worksheet.pdf) — Fill-in care preference table for tube feeding, hydration, antibiotics, hospitalization, ventilation, and CPR, plus Vermont's over-objection authorization and COLST coordination checklist.
- Forms & Contacts Reference (forms-contacts-reference.pdf) — Every Vermont form number, agency website, and phone number on one printable sheet — healthcare, probate, tax, Medicaid, and DMV.
Who This Kit Is For
- You're planning ahead while healthy — and you want your directive completed, witnessed, registered, and coordinated with a COLST order before a crisis forces the issue under institutional red tape.
- You're helping an aging parent — and you need to get their healthcare proxy legally established before cognitive decline makes execution impossible. Vermont's no-default-surrogate rule means waiting is not an option.
- You've received a serious diagnosis — and you want detailed comfort care instructions, COLST coordination, and clear documentation of your wishes for ventilator use, feeding tubes, and pain management.
- You own property in Vermont — and your financial POA needs notarization, town clerk recording, and integration with your healthcare directive so your agent can manage both medical and financial decisions.
- Your family has assets above $5 million — and you need the estate tax mitigation and Medicaid recovery protections that generic planning templates completely overlook.
Why Free Forms Fall Short
The Vermont Ethics Network provides free advance directive forms. National document generators like eForms and LegalTemplates offer Vermont templates. But none of them solve the execution problem.
Free forms give you blank fields. They do not tell you that your sister cannot serve as a witness. They do not mention the care-facility affirmation requirement. They do not walk you through COLST coordination or VADR registration. They do not explain that your financial POA is legally void unless notarized under the 2023 Uniform Power of Attorney Act. And they do not touch the estate tax portability trap or Medicaid recovery rules that determine whether your family keeps or loses the house.
A Vermont estate planning attorney charges $1,500 to $5,000 to set up a complete plan. This kit bridges the gap — professional-grade, Vermont-specific guidance at a fraction of that cost.
Everything Covered, Nothing Left to Chance
Your purchase is backed by a 30-day satisfaction guarantee. If the kit does not give you a clear, complete path to legally locking in your Vermont healthcare and financial wishes, email us and we will make it right.
Start with the free checklist to see the scope of what Vermont law requires. When you are ready for the complete system — the step-by-step instructions, the witness verification walkthrough, the COLST coordination guide, the VADR registration process, and the financial POA filing protocol — the full kit is here.