State guide
Advance Directive Forms in Tennessee
By Jason Su · Sources last confirmed September 15
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 Tennessee form
Tennessee Department of Health publishes the current form here: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/Advance_Directive_for_Health_Care.pdf
Replaces the old separate durable POA, living will, and appointment of agent forms.
Tennessee folded three documents into one
Tennessee made a consolidation most states have not: it replaced the older separate documents — a durable power of attorney for health care, a living will, and a separate appointment of an agent — with a single Advance Directive for Health Care. Three documents became one.
If you or someone you are helping signed one of those older Tennessee documents years ago, it may still be in a drawer somewhere. Completing the current combined form as well removes any question about which document governs if both end up in a hospital file, and the combined form is easier for a hospital to act on.
The single form is divided into parts rather than being one long page of instructions. You name your agent in one section and record your wishes in another, which means you can be as brief or as specific as you like without the document becoming unusable.
It is published by the Tennessee Department of Health, free of charge, with no filing requirement. The gap to watch is the same one that follows every consolidation: older paperwork that nobody remembers signing.
Tennessee's retired documents used names that no longer match the current form. If a relative or a hospital asks for a "living will" and you hold the combined Advance Directive, they mean the same thing.
National resources
- USA.gov — Official U.S. government portal.
- Medicare.gov — Official Medicare information.
After you sign it
- Sign it the way Tennessee 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 Tennessee advance directive form free?
Yes. Tennessee Department of Health publishes the current form free of charge, and we link to the official source only.
Do I need a lawyer to complete the Tennessee form?
No. You can complete the form yourself. It must be signed the way Tennessee law requires — usually with witnesses or a notary — so follow the instructions printed on the form itself.
Where should I keep my signed Tennessee 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.