State guide
Advance Directive Forms in Texas
By Jason Su · Sources last confirmed September 10
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 Texas form
Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) publishes the current form here: https://fhb.hhs.texas.gov/forms/advance-directives
Texas calls its living will a Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates. Texas allows a notarized acknowledgment instead of witnesses on some forms.
In Texas, the living will is called something else
Texas does not use the term living will. The document is a Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates, usually shortened to "Directive to Physicians". If you searched for a Texas living will form, found nothing official, and assumed you had missed it, this is why — you were searching for a name Texas does not use.
It is paired with a Medical Power of Attorney, which names your agent. The two are separate documents with separate jobs: one records what you want, the other decides who can make sure it happens. Texas publishes both through the Health and Human Services Commission, along with a plain-language explanation of each.
Texas has one feature that is genuinely convenient and that many residents do not know about: on the Medical Power of Attorney, the state allows a notarised acknowledgment as an alternative to witnesses. If gathering two people to watch you sign is difficult — a real obstacle for anyone living alone, or housebound, or short on notice — the notary route gives you a second path that reaches the same place.
The forms themselves set out both options, so you do not have to decide in advance which one you will use. Read the signature section before you start filling anything in, so you know what the day of signing will involve.
Texas calls this a "Directive to Physicians". If a family member or a staff member asks you for a "living will", the Directive is what they mean — the terms are used interchangeably here even though the form does not use the phrase.
National resources
- USA.gov — Official U.S. government portal.
- Medicare.gov — Official Medicare information.
After you sign it
- Sign it the way Texas 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 Texas advance directive form free?
Yes. Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) publishes the current form free of charge, and we link to the official source only.
Do I need a lawyer to complete the Texas form?
No. You can complete the form yourself. It must be signed the way Texas law requires — usually with witnesses or a notary — so follow the instructions printed on the form itself.
Where should I keep my signed Texas 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.