The Iowa Advance Directive is the ultimate document for planning ahead in terms of your healthcare. There are two (2) main forms used to create a protocol for what is to occur when you are incapacitated and major medical decisions need to be made. One is the “medical power of attorney” which allows individuals to appoint a representative to make these judgment calls for the principal. The other is the “living will” which enables the executor of the instrument to clarify their own wishes. The advance directive combines the attributes of both documents into one so that the principal can cover all their bases.

(Residents of the state who wish to donate their organs/tissues at the time of their expiration may proactively indicate this desire by enrolling in the Iowa Donor Network.)

This Document Contains:

Laws

Statutes – Medical POA (Chapter 144B), Living Will (Chapter 144A)

Definition – “Durable power of attorney for health care” means a document authorizing an attorney-in-fact to make health care decisions for the principal if the principal is unable, in the judgment of the attending physician, to make health care decisions (§ 144B.1). “Declaration” means a document executed in accordance with the requirements of section 144A.3 (§ 144A.2).

Signing Requirements – Acknowledgment of Two (2) Witnesses or Notary Public (§ 144B.3, § 144A.3)