Putting It In Writing First
ORC 2133.02 and 1337.12 — two documents, and who is not allowed to witness them
Another page here covers the order the law applies when nothing was signed. This is the other side of it: what the two documents are, and the execution requirements that decide whether a signed one works at all. Both are short lists, and most of what goes wrong is on the witness line rather than in the wording.
| The document | What it does |
|---|---|
| The documentA living will declaration | What it doesSpeaks for the declarant about treatment when they cannot |
| The documentA durable power of attorney for health care | What it doesNames somebody to decide, the attorney in fact |
Both need a date, a signature at the end, and then one of two things. A living will declaration is signed at the end by the declarant, or by another individual at the declarant's direction, states the date of its execution, and is either witnessed as the section describes or acknowledged by the declarant before a notary public. A durable power of attorney for health care is signed at the end by the principal, states the date of its execution, and is either witnessed or acknowledged before a notary in the same either or shape.
The people closest to somebody are the people who cannot witness. For a durable power of attorney for health care, no person related to the principal by blood, marriage or adoption may witness it. Neither may the attorney in fact named in it, the principal's attending physician, or the administrator of any nursing home in which the principal is receiving care. The living will has its own list in the same spirit, and between them they rule out most of the people who would be in the room.
That is why the notary route exists alongside the witness route. Where the people available are the ones the section excludes, an acknowledgment before a notary is the alternative the section itself provides rather than a workaround.
Who may be an attorney in fact, when a declaration takes effect, what a physician has to certify before it does, the do not resuscitate identification, and the revocation of either document are each their own part of these chapters and are not set out here. The full list of who may not witness is in the sections rather than on this page. Whether a particular document is valid, and what it will be read to say, are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and the Ohio Department of Health publishes the state forms.
Sources for this section (2)
- ORC 2133.02 — Executing a living will declaration
- ORC 1337.12 — Durable power of attorney for health care, its witnesses and its acknowledgment
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Talk to a licensed Ohio attorney about your situation.