Wisconsin Healthcare Power of Attorney Requirements
Wisconsin requires two witnesses, not a notary, to sign off on a Power of Attorney for Health Care, and unlike many states, both witnesses must independently satisfy every disqualification rule under Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 155, not just one of them.
Introduction
Wisconsin requires two witnesses, not a notary, to sign off on a Power of Attorney for Health Care, and unlike many states, both witnesses must independently satisfy every disqualification rule under Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 155, not just one of them. This document lets you put someone you choose in charge of your medical treatment decisions if you ever become unable to make them yourself, and it is officially titled the Power of Attorney for Health Care. This document occupies a narrower lane than a general power of attorney, limited to health care decisions. It also does not hand your agent immediate authority in most cases. Unless you say otherwise in the document, your agent can only begin deciding for you once two physicians, or one physician and one licensed advanced practice clinician such as a psychologist or certain nurse practitioners and physician assistants, personally examine you and sign a statement that you have incapacity. Wisconsin requires you to sign the document in front of two qualified witnesses. There is no notary alternative to this witness requirement, unlike some other states. Wisconsin's Department of Health Services publishes the official statutory form, and there is no statewide registry to file it with, although you may pay a fee to file it for safekeeping with the register in probate in your county.
Key Things to Know
- 1
A Power of Attorney for Health Care in Wisconsin only takes effect if you sign it before two witnesses, since state law offers no notary option in place of them; signing it lets you, the principal, name a trusted adult, your health care agent, to make health care decisions for you once you become unable to make them yourself.
- 2
Unless you specify otherwise, your agent's authority does not begin the moment you sign. It starts only after two physicians, or one physician and one licensed advanced practice clinician, personally examine you and sign a statement that you have incapacity (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(2)).
- 3
Your own wishes always control over your agent's decisions for as long as you do not have incapacity, even after a physician has signed an incapacity statement (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(4)).
- 4
Your agent cannot be your health care provider, an employee of that provider, an employee of a health care facility where you are a patient or reside, or a spouse of any of those people, unless that person is also your relative (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(3)).
- 5
You must sign in front of two witnesses who are each at least 18 years old. Wisconsin has no notary alternative to this two-witness requirement.
- 6
Neither witness may be related to you or be your domestic partner, entitled to your estate, financially responsible for your health care, or a health care provider or facility employee treating you, with a specific exception for chaplains and social workers (Wis. Stat. Section 155.10(2)).
- 7
You can revoke the document at any time by destroying it, signing a dated written revocation, stating your intent to revoke out loud in front of two witnesses, or signing a later Power of Attorney for Health Care.
- 8
If you name your spouse or domestic partner as agent and later divorce, annul the marriage, or end the domestic partnership, the document is automatically revoked.
- 9
Wisconsin has no statewide advance directive registry, though you can pay a fee to file the document for safekeeping with the register in probate in your county (Wis. Stat. Section 155.65). This is a different document from Wisconsin's Power of Attorney for Finances and Property, which covers money and property, not health care.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Healthcare Power of Attorney in Wisconsin, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Healthcare Power of Attorney guide walks through them.
Open the Healthcare Power of Attorney guideCustomize your Healthcare Power of Attorney Template with DocDraft
Once your Healthcare Power of Attorney is ready, you can check whether it needs to be notarized in Wisconsin in about a minute, and notarize it online through DocDraft if it does.
Wisconsin Requirements for Healthcare Power of Attorney
Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 155 governs the creation, execution, agent powers and limitations, revocation, and safeguards of health care powers of attorney in the state.
The principal must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind when executing the document (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(1)). An individual for whom an adjudication of incompetence and appointment of a guardian of the person is in effect is presumed not to be of sound mind for this purpose.
The document must be signed in the presence of two witnesses, each at least 18 years old, and both witnesses, not just one, must independently clear the full disqualification list. Neither witness may be related to the principal by blood, marriage, or adoption, or be the principal's domestic partner; have knowledge of an entitlement to or claim on the principal's estate; be directly financially responsible for the principal's health care; be a health care provider serving the principal, or an employee (other than a chaplain or social worker) of that provider or of the inpatient facility where the principal is a patient; or be the principal's health care agent (Wis. Stat. Section 155.10(2)).
No health care provider for the principal, employee of that provider, or employee of a health care facility where the principal is a patient or resides, and no spouse of any of those people, may be designated as health care agent unless that person is also the principal's relative (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(3)).
The principal may designate an alternate individual to serve as health care agent if the first designated agent is unable or unwilling to do so (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(5)).
Unless the instrument provides otherwise, an available agent has priority over any individual other than the principal to make health care decisions, including consenting to, withholding, or withdrawing treatment and reviewing medical records, subject to the specific limitations set out elsewhere in Section 155.20.
Unless the instrument specifies otherwise, the agent's authority takes effect only upon a finding of incapacity by two physicians, or by one physician and one licensed advanced practice clinician (a psychologist, a qualifying certified nurse practitioner, or a qualifying physician assistant), who personally examine the principal and sign a statement of incapacity that is appended to the instrument (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(2)). Mere old age, eccentricity, or physical disability is not enough to support a finding of incapacity.
The principal may revoke the document at any time only by one of four specific methods: destroying the instrument or directing another person to destroy it in the principal's presence, signing a dated written revocation statement, verbally expressing intent to revoke in the presence of two witnesses, or executing a subsequent Power of Attorney for Health Care (Wis. Stat. Section 155.40(1)). If the agent is the principal's spouse or domestic partner and the marriage is later annulled or dissolved, or the domestic partnership terminated, the document is automatically revoked (Section 155.40(2)).
Federal HIPAA regulations govern how the agent can be authorized to access the principal's protected health information once the document is in effect.
Wisconsin Statutes Section 155.20(8) authorizes a health care agent to make an anatomical gift of all or part of the principal's body as provided under Section 157.06 (4)(b) or (9)(a)1., so the document may include provisions addressing the agent's anatomical gift authority.
A health care agent may not consent to the principal's inpatient admission to an institution for mental diseases, an intermediate care facility for persons with an intellectual disability, or a state or other treatment facility (Wis. Stat. Section 155.20(2)(a)); such admission is only available through the applicable involuntary commitment or protective placement procedures under Chapter 51 or 55. An agent also may not consent to experimental mental health research, psychosurgery, electroconvulsive treatment, or other drastic mental health treatment procedures for the principal (Section 155.20(3)).
A health care agent may consent to withholding or withdrawing a feeding tube only if the instrument authorizes it, and only unless the principal's attending health care professional advises that doing so will cause the principal pain or reduce comfort (Wis. Stat. Section 155.20(4)). An agent may never consent to withholding or withdrawing orally ingested nutrition or hydration unless providing it is medically contraindicated. On the statutory form, if the principal does not mark either box, the agent may not have a feeding tube withdrawn.
If the principal is known to be pregnant, the health care agent may make a health care decision on the principal's behalf only if the instrument authorizes it (Wis. Stat. Section 155.20(6)). On the statutory form, if the principal does not mark either box, the agent may not make health care decisions for the principal while known to be pregnant.
A health care agent may consent to the principal's admission to a nursing home or community based residential facility only under specific conditions: for recuperative care not exceeding three months if admitted directly from a hospital inpatient unit other than a psychiatric admission, for a respite placement not exceeding thirty days if the principal lives with the agent, or, for any other purpose, only if the instrument specifically authorizes it and the principal is not diagnosed as developmentally disabled or as having a mental illness at the time of the proposed admission (Wis. Stat. Section 155.20(2)(c)).
Chapter 155 does not apply to the provisions of a valid declaration to health care professionals executed under Chapter 154 (the Wisconsin living will law), except that a principal's valid Power of Attorney for Health Care supersedes any directly conflicting provisions of that declaration (Wis. Stat. Section 155.70(3)); the agent must otherwise act consistently with any such declaration (Section 155.20(5)).
Health care facilities that participate in Medicare and Medicaid must inform patients of their rights under state law to make advance directives, including a Power of Attorney for Health Care.
If a principal is later adjudicated incompetent and a guardian is appointed, the Power of Attorney for Health Care remains in effect and the guardian generally may not make health care decisions that the health care agent may make, unless the guardian is also the agent (Wis. Stat. Section 155.60(2)). A court may, for good cause shown, revoke or invalidate the instrument, or limit the agent's authority, under Section 54.46(2)(b).
A valid document granting a health care agent authority, executed in another state or jurisdiction in compliance with that jurisdiction's law, is valid and enforceable in Wisconsin, to the extent it authorizes decisions a health care agent could make for a principal under Chapter 155 (Wis. Stat. Section 155.70(10)).
Use of the Department of Health Services' exact statutory form is not the only valid option. A printed form sold or distributed for use without an attorney's advice must either include the statutory NOTICE TO PERSON MAKING THIS DOCUMENT disclosure or be accompanied by a signed attorney certificate confirming the principal was advised of the applicable law (Wis. Stat. Section 155.30(1), (2)).
A printed form distributed for use by someone without an attorney's advice must contain a specific notice, in not less than 10 point boldface type, explaining the principal's right to make health care decisions, the effect of the document, and how to revoke it (Wis. Stat. Section 155.30(1)). As an alternative to this notice, the form may instead include a certificate signed by the principal's lawyer confirming the principal was advised of the applicable law (Section 155.30(2)).
Does your Healthcare Power of Attorney need to be notarized in Wisconsin?
Whether a Healthcare Power of Attorney needs to be notarized depends on your state. Upload yours, pick your state, and get the current rule with the official source behind it, free and with no account. If yours does need a notary, online notarization is part of your DocDraft plan.
Check my Healthcare Power of AttorneyFrequently Asked Questions
A Power of Attorney for Health Care in Wisconsin is a legal document, created under Wisconsin Statutes Chapter 155, that lets you name a trusted adult, your health care agent, to make health care decisions for you if you ever become unable to make them yourself. It covers only health care decisions, such as consenting to or refusing treatment, and, unless you specify otherwise, it takes effect only after two physicians, or one physician and one licensed advanced practice clinician, certify in writing that you have incapacity.
A Power of Attorney for Health Care covers only health care decisions. Wisconsin's Power of Attorney for Finances and Property, under Chapter 244's Uniform Power of Attorney for Finances and Property Act, covers money and property instead, and by statute does not apply to health care decisions at all. The two also default differently. The financial power of attorney is durable by default, meaning it stays in effect through your incapacity unless you say otherwise, and only needs your own signature to be valid, with notarization merely creating a presumption that the signature is genuine. The Power of Attorney for Health Care, by contrast, always requires two witnesses and has no notary only option, and your agent's authority is gated on a physician's incapacity finding rather than a durability choice you make at signing.
Yes. Unlike some states, Wisconsin requires both witnesses, not just one, to independently meet the full list of qualifications. Each must be at least 18, and neither may be related to you or your domestic partner, entitled to your estate, financially responsible for your health care, or a health care provider (or, with an exception for chaplains and social workers, an employee of that provider or of the facility where you are a patient) serving you, or your own health care agent (Wis. Stat. Section 155.10(2)).
No. Wisconsin law bars a person from serving as your health care agent while also serving as your health care provider, an employee of that provider, an employee of a facility where you are a patient or reside, or the spouse of any of those people, unless that person is also your relative (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(3)).
No, not a statewide one. Wisconsin instead lets you pay a fee to file the document, for safekeeping, with the register in probate of the county where you live (Wis. Stat. Section 155.65). Filing is optional, and failing to file does not affect the document's validity.
You can revoke it at any time by destroying the document, or having someone else destroy it in your presence, by signing a dated written statement of revocation, by verbally stating your intent to revoke in front of two witnesses, or by signing a later Power of Attorney for Health Care (Wis. Stat. Section 155.40(1)). If your agent is your spouse or domestic partner and you later divorce, annul the marriage, or end the domestic partnership, the document is automatically revoked.
Unless your document says otherwise, Wisconsin requires a finding of incapacity from two physicians, or from one physician and one licensed advanced practice clinician, such as a certified nurse practitioner, a qualifying physician assistant, or a psychologist, who have personally examined you (Wis. Stat. Section 155.05(2)). Old age, eccentricity, or physical disability alone are not enough to support that finding.
Yes, under a 2023 law change. You can sign using simultaneous two way, real time video with your two witnesses, but only if an attorney licensed in Wisconsin supervises the signing and a detailed list of conditions is met, including identity attestations, a visual sweep of your surroundings, and a signed affidavit of compliance attached to the document (Wis. Stat. Section 155.10(3)).