Living Wills & Advance Directives

Norman Living Wills & Advance Directives

Incapacity Planning That Works with Your Complete Estate Plan

A living will and advance directive give you control over your medical care when you can no longer speak for yourself. Without these documents, family members are left guessing, and disagreements during an already difficult time can strain relationships and delay decisions. Putting your wishes in writing now can help prevent that uncertainty.

At Nichols Law Firm, we draft advance directives as part of a coordinated estate plan, not as a standalone form. That means your healthcare instructions are built to align with your will, trust, and powers of attorney from the start.

Contact our Norman office to schedule a consultation about your living will and advance directive. Call (405) 294-1511 to get started.

What Oklahoma’s Advance Directive Covers

Under the Oklahoma Advance Directive Act, a single statutory form combines four distinct parts. Understanding each one helps you make deliberate choices rather than leaving sections blank or signing a form you don’t fully understand.

Part I: Living Will

This section lets you direct whether you want life-sustaining treatment and artificially administered nutrition and hydration withheld or continued if you have a terminal condition, are persistently unconscious, or have an end-stage condition. These three situations are defined under Oklahoma law, and your instructions can differ for each one. Even when life-sustaining treatment is withheld, Oklahoma law still requires that you receive medication or other care to relieve pain.

Part II: Health Care Proxy

A health care proxy (sometimes called a durable power of attorney for health care) is the person you designate to make medical decisions on your behalf if you become unable to decide for yourself. The form also allows you to name an alternate proxy. The proxy’s authority extends to any medical decision you could have made yourself, giving them the flexibility to respond to situations your living will may not specifically anticipate.

Part III: Anatomical Gifts

This section addresses organ and tissue donation under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. You can indicate whether you wish to make an anatomical gift, and if so, to what extent.

Part IV: General Provisions

Part IV confirms that you are at least 18 years old and of sound mind at the time of signing. It also states that you can revoke the directive at any time, under any circumstances.

Why Clients Throughout Cleveland County Choose Nichols Law Firm

Our attorneys bring over 35 years of combined legal experience across estate planning and incapacity planning. We work collaboratively with each client, taking time to understand your family situation, your values around medical care, and how your advance directive should interact with the rest of your estate plan.

We serve clients throughout Cleveland and Seminole counties. Our office is located near the courthouse in Norman, and our team is recognized in the community for both legal skill and client-centered service. Drew Nichols and Lucas West have both been named to the Super Lawyers list for 2023, 2024, and 2025.

Start Your Advance Directive Conversation Today

Advance directives are most useful when they reflect careful, deliberate decisions made well before a crisis. We can walk you through each section of Oklahoma’s statutory form, discuss how your choices interact with the rest of your estate plan, and help make sure the final document says exactly what you intend.

How a Living Will Fits into Your Broader Estate Plan

An advance directive addresses your medical care. Your will, trust, and financial power of attorney address your property and finances. These documents are often prepared separately, but when they’re drafted without coordination, conflicting instructions can create problems for the people trying to carry out your wishes.

Our estate planning services cover wills, trusts, and powers of attorney alongside healthcare directives so each document is designed with the others in mind. A financial power of attorney names someone to handle your accounts and bills if you’re incapacitated; a health care proxy names someone to make medical decisions. If those are different people, or if the documents carry different assumptions about your condition, a coordinated plan clarifies how each role operates.

Signing & Revocation Requirements in Oklahoma

Oklahoma law sets specific execution requirements for an advance directive to be valid. The declarant must be at least 18 years old and of sound mind at the time of signing, and two witnesses, each at least 18, must also sign. Witnesses can’t be legatees, devisees, or heirs at law of the declarant.

The form requires the declarant to initial multiple sections individually, though there is only one signature line at the end of the document. This structure helps show that each section reflects a deliberate choice rather than an inadvertent default.

Revoking an advance directive is straightforward. A revocation can be made at any time and in any manner, regardless of the declarant’s mental or physical condition. It takes effect once the attending physician or health care provider is notified. Signing a new advance directive automatically revokes any prior directive.

Out-of-State Directives & Provider Obligations

If you executed an advance directive in another state before moving to Oklahoma, that document may still be valid here. Oklahoma law recognizes out-of-state directives if they complied with the law of the state where they were signed and don’t authorize anything beyond what Oklahoma law permits. That said, signing a new Oklahoma-compliant directive after a move can remove ambiguity about which form governs.

A few other protections are worth knowing. No health care provider or insurer can require you to sign an advance directive as a condition of receiving care or coverage, and an existing directive can’t be used to modify your life insurance policy. If an attending physician is unwilling to follow your advance directive, Oklahoma law requires that physician to take reasonable steps to arrange for your care by another provider who will.

Call Nichols Law Firm at (405) 294-1511 to schedule a consultation about your living will, advance directive, and complete estate plan.

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