A Living Will
Iowa Code § 144A.3 — signed, dated, and witnessed by two people or notarized
A competent adult may sign a declaration at any time directing that life sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn. It takes effect only if the declarant's condition is terminal and the declarant cannot make treatment decisions.
- The declaration is signed by the declarant, or by another at the declarant's direction, and carries the date it was signed.
- It is witnessed by at least two people who watch the signing together, at least one of them not related to the declarant within the third degree, or acknowledged before a notary.
- The attending health care provider, an employee of that provider, and anyone under eighteen years of age may not be witnesses.
- A declaration made under another state's law is valid in Iowa to the extent it is consistent with Iowa law.
Sources for this section (1)
- Iowa Code § 144A.3 — Declaration relating to use of life-sustaining procedures
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Iowa attorney.