State guide
Advance Directive Forms in Louisiana
By Jason Su · Sources last confirmed September 14
We link to official sources only. We are not a law firm and we never write legal documents. The form you sign must come from an official or authorised source in your state.
What this document does
An advance directive is where you write down the healthcare treatment you would and would not want if you could not speak for yourself. In most states it also names a healthcare agent — the person who speaks for you when you cannot.
Where to get the Louisiana form
Louisiana Secretary of State publishes the current form here: https://www.sos.la.gov/media/wmjm0vsi/living-will-declaration-form.pdf
Louisiana runs a Living Will Declaration Registry.
Louisiana's form comes from the Secretary of State, and there is a registry
Louisiana's Living Will Declaration is published by the Secretary of State, which is unusual. In most states this paperwork comes from a health department or a bar association. It is one reason a Louisiana form can be hard to find if you assume health services handles it.
Louisiana also maintains a Living Will Declaration Registry, where a copy can be filed so it can be retrieved when it is needed. A registry earns its keep in one specific situation: when nobody present has your paperwork. That is precisely what happens in an emergency, and it is when a photocopy in a kitchen drawer is least useful.
There is a second reason Louisiana can look unfamiliar. Louisiana is the only state whose private law rests on a civil-law tradition rather than the common law the other forty-nine inherited. For you the practical effect is mostly vocabulary: document names and terms can differ from what a guide written for another state would lead you to expect.
Start from the Secretary of State's own form. It is free, it is the version the registry accepts, and using it avoids any question about whether a document from somewhere else will be recognized.
Louisiana's form is published by the Secretary of State, not the health department. If you are searching under health or aging services you are looking in the wrong place, and the registry will not accept a substitute form.
National resources
- USA.gov — Official U.S. government portal.
- Medicare.gov — Official Medicare information.
After you sign it
- Sign it the way Louisiana requires. Many states need witnesses or a notary. The form itself says which — follow the form, not a blog.
- Give copies to your healthcare agent and your doctor. A form nobody can find is a form that does not work.
- Keep the original somewhere reachable — not locked in a safe deposit box that needs a bank visit during an emergency.
- Add it to your checklist so your trusted contact knows it exists and where it lives.
Frequently asked
Is the Louisiana advance directive form free?
Yes. Louisiana Secretary of State publishes the current form free of charge, and we link to the official source only.
Do I need a lawyer to complete the Louisiana form?
No. You can complete the form yourself. It must be signed the way Louisiana law requires — usually with witnesses or a notary — so follow the instructions printed on the form itself.
Where should I keep my signed Louisiana advance directive?
Give copies to your healthcare agent and your doctor, and keep the original somewhere reachable at home — not locked in a safe deposit box that needs a bank visit during an emergency.
Next: build your checklist and record where this form is kept.