Kansas Living Will Requirements

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   In Kansas, a living will is legally called a declaration, and it works as a direct instruction to your physician, not a document that names someone to decide for you. It is your own written statement of which medical treatments you want, or want withheld, if you become seriously ill or injured and cannot speak for yourself.

2. 2

   A living will is not a last will and testament. A living will governs medical care while you are alive but unable to communicate; a last will and testament governs who inherits your property after you die. Most people preparing one eventually want the other too.

3. 3

   Kansas keeps these as two separate documents, not one combined form. The Natural Death Act declaration, K.S.A. 65-28,101 to 65-28,109, states your treatment wishes and names no agent. The Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions, K.S.A. 58-625 to 58-632, is the separate document that names your agent.

4. 4

   Kansas recognizes one trigger condition: a terminal condition certified in writing by two physicians, one of whom is your attending physician. Kansas does not use a separate permanent-unconsciousness trigger the way some other states do.

5. 5

   You can sign your declaration before a notary public, or before two qualifying adult witnesses. Both routes are equally valid. Notarization is not a backup option.

6. 6

   Kansas law does not require artificial nutrition and hydration to be addressed as its own separate choice, and it never mentions artificial nutrition or hydration by name. Add your own direction about it if you want it addressed specifically.

7. 7

   Kansas law states your declaration has no effect during the course of a pregnancy diagnosed by your attending physician. This is written as an absolute rule with no stated exception.

8. 8

   You can revoke your declaration at any time, by destroying it, by a signed written revocation, or by telling a witness who confirms your verbal revocation in writing. A verbal revocation takes effect once your attending physician receives that written confirmation.

9. 9

   Kansas has no state-run registry for living wills or advance directives. You are responsible for telling your attending physician your declaration exists so it can become part of your medical record.

Kansas Requirements for Living Will

• Kansas Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions Act (K.S.A. 58-625 through 58-632)

  This is a wholly separate act from the living-will declaration covered on this page, with its own chapter, definitions, and execution rules. It creates the document that names a health care agent. Kansas's living-will declaration does not have agent-designation fields and does not require you to reference this act; if you also want to name an agent, complete the separate Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions. See Kansas Healthcare Power of Attorney for agent-designation guidance.

• Kansas Natural Death Act (K.S.A. 65-28,101 through 65-28,109)

  Provides the statutory basis for the living will, called a declaration, in Kansas, letting an adult direct that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn in a certified terminal condition. The declaration must comply with the formal requirements of this act.

• Witness Requirements (K.S.A. 65-28,103)

  If you use witnesses rather than a notary, Kansas requires two individuals at least 18 years old who are not the person who signed the declaration on your behalf, not related to you by blood or marriage, not entitled to any portion of your estate, and not directly financially responsible for your medical care. Kansas's list is narrower than some other states: it does not disqualify your own health care provider or an employee of a care facility from serving as a witness. Witnessing is not mandatory; notarization under the same section is an equally valid, independently sufficient alternative, not a fallback.

• Notarization Alternative (K.S.A. 65-28,103)

  Acknowledging your declaration before a notary public is not an optional add-on for extra protection. K.S.A. 65-28,103 makes notarization and two-witness signing two independently sufficient, co-equal ways to execute a valid declaration; you only need one of the two.

• Revocation Procedures (K.S.A. 65-28,104)

  You may revoke your declaration at any time by any of three methods: physically destroying it with intent to cancel, a signed and dated written revocation, or a verbal expression of intent to revoke made in the presence of a witness at least 18 years old who signs and dates a writing confirming it. A verbal revocation becomes effective only once your attending physician receives that written confirmation, and the physician must record the time, date, and place of receiving it.

• Pregnancy Limitations (K.S.A. 65-28,103(a))

  Kansas law specifies that a declaration has no effect during the course of a pregnancy diagnosed by the attending physician. The rule is absolute, with no exception stated.

• Physician Immunity Provision (K.S.A. 65-28,106)

  A physician, licensed health care professional, medical care facility, or employee who in good faith and pursuant to reasonable medical standards complies with a valid declaration is not subject to criminal or civil liability and is not deemed to have committed unprofessional conduct as a result.

• HIPAA Authorization (45 CFR Section 164.508)

  Federal HIPAA regulations govern how your attending physician and family can be authorized to receive information relevant to carrying out your declaration. Because the Kansas living-will declaration names no health care agent, any authorization to release information to a named agent belongs on the separate Kansas Healthcare Power of Attorney document, not this one.

• Specific Medical Interventions (K.S.A. 65-28,103)

  Kansas's statutory declaration form is a single general instruction to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures in a certified terminal condition; it does not itemize interventions like CPR, mechanical ventilation, dialysis, or artificial nutrition and hydration one by one. The statute does let you add your own additional, specific directions beyond the base form, which is where naming individual interventions belongs if you want that level of detail.

• Pain Management Provisions (K.S.A. 65-28,103)

  Your declaration can state preferences for pain management and comfort care even while directing that other life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn. The statute's own life-sustaining-procedure definition already excludes medication or procedures necessary to provide comfort care or alleviate pain, so comfort care continues regardless of your other directions.

• Organ Donation Directive (K.S.A. 65-3221 through 65-3244)

  Kansas's Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act lets you authorize organ and tissue donation, but this is a separate act from the Natural Death Act. Unlike some other states' combined statutory forms, Kansas's declaration form itself has no built-in organ-donation section; donation wishes are handled through this separate act instead.

• Patient Self-Determination Act Compliance (42 U.S.C. Section 1395cc(f))

  Federal law requires Medicare- and Medicaid-participating hospitals, nursing homes, and other facilities to inform patients in writing of their right under Kansas law to make an advance directive, including stating their own treatment wishes.

• Medicare/Medicaid Compliance (42 CFR Section 489.102)

  This federal regulation implements the Patient Self-Determination Act's requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers, including informing patients of their advance-directive rights under Kansas law.

• Kansas's Single Trigger Condition, Terminal Condition Only (K.S.A. 65-28,102, K.S.A. 65-28,103)

  Kansas's Natural Death Act recognizes one trigger condition for a declaration to take effect: a certified terminal condition, confirmed by two physicians who have personally examined the patient, one of whom is the attending physician, with a determination that death will occur whether or not life-sustaining procedures are used. Kansas does not recognize a separate permanent-unconsciousness or persistent-vegetative-state trigger the way some other states' statutes do, and the term 'terminal condition' itself has no standalone statutory definition.

• Broader Witness Eligibility, Health Care Providers Not Disqualified (K.S.A. 65-28,103)

  Kansas's witness disqualification list covers only someone who signed the declaration on your behalf, a relative by blood or marriage, someone entitled to part of your estate, or someone directly financially responsible for your medical care. Unlike some other states, Kansas does not disqualify your own health care provider, an employee of your health care provider, or an operator or employee of a care facility from serving as a witness, and Kansas has no additional witness rule for residents of skilled nursing facilities or similar institutions.