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Medical Power of Attorney in Kansas: Health Care Decisions and the Living Will
Kansas's medical power of attorney and its living will each need two qualified witnesses or a notary. Here is how both work under Kansas law, and what happens if your parent has neither.
By naveen · Updated · How we research our guides
What to know
- A Kansas durable power of attorney for health care decisions must be dated and signed before two adult witnesses or acknowledged before a notary; the agent and your parent's relatives can't be the witnesses (K.S.A. 58-629).
- A living will, called a declaration under the Natural Death Act, has a similar rule: two adult witnesses who aren't relatives or heirs, or a notary (K.S.A. 65-28,103).
- Unless the document says otherwise, the agent's powers start only when your parent's attending physician determines they're impaired.
- In the sections we read, Kansas has no general list ranking relatives to decide for an adult with no agent or guardian; a 2026 bill to create one died.
- Retirement Checklist puts these documents in order alongside everything else your family needs to settle.
A Kansas medical power of attorney, formally a durable power of attorney for health care decisions, names an agent for your parent's health care decisions and is signed before two qualified adult witnesses or a notary. It lets the agent "Consent, refuse consent, or withdraw consent to any care, treatment, service or procedure to maintain, diagnose or treat a physical or mental condition" (K.S.A. 58-629). The agent "has a duty to act consistent with the expressed desires of the principal." Kansas prints a form for it in K.S.A. 58-632, and a separate form for the living will in K.S.A. 65-28,103.
What is a durable power of attorney for health care decisions in Kansas?
It's a written power of attorney in which your parent designates an agent, and which contains words such as "this power of attorney for health care decisions shall not be affected by subsequent disability or incapacity of the principal" (K.S.A. 58-625). Besides treatment decisions, it can let the agent make arrangements at a hospital, hospice or nursing home, hire or discharge health care personnel, and "request, receive and review any information, verbal or written, regarding the principal's personal affairs or physical or mental health including medical and hospital records."
It can't be used to undo a living will: the agent's powers "shall not include the power to revoke or invalidate a previously existing declaration by the principal in accordance with the natural death act." It's separate from a financial power of attorney, which can't make, change or revoke it; see our Kansas power of attorney guide.
How is it different from a living will?
A medical power of attorney names someone to decide for your parent, while a living will gives your parent's own direction to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures in a terminal condition.
| Document | What it does | Signing rule |
|---|---|---|
| Durable power of attorney for health care decisions | Names an agent for health care decisions | Two qualified adult witnesses, or a notary (K.S.A. 58-629) |
| Declaration (living will) | Directs that life-sustaining procedures be withheld or withdrawn in a terminal condition | Two qualified adult witnesses, or a notary (K.S.A. 65-28,103) |
Your parent can have both. For the general picture, see power of attorney vs. advance directive.
How do you sign a Kansas medical power of attorney?
Under K.S.A. 58-629(e), it must be "Dated and signed in the presence of two witnesses at least 18 years of age" or "acknowledged before a notary public." Neither witness can be:
- the agent;
- related to your parent by blood, marriage or adoption;
- entitled to any part of your parent's estate as an heir or under a will or codicil;
- directly financially responsible for your parent's health care.
The statutory form in K.S.A. 58-632 repeats the rule and has lines for both options. Because relatives can't be witnesses, the notary option is the one that doesn't depend on finding two unrelated adults.
Who can't be the health care agent?
Under K.S.A. 58-629(d), your parent can't name their treating health care provider, an employee of that provider, or an employee, owner, director or officer of a hospital, hospice, nursing home or similar facility described in the statute, unless that person is "Related to the principal by blood, marriage or adoption," or both belong to the same religious community bound by vows.
Family members can serve as agent, even though they can't serve as witnesses.
When does the agent start making decisions?
Under K.S.A. 58-629(b), "No agent powers conveyed pursuant to this section shall be effective until the occurrence of the principal's impairment as determined by the principal's attending physician," unless the document "specifically provides otherwise." The statutory form lets your parent choose whether it takes effect immediately or on their disability or incapacity.
If a court later appoints a guardian of the person, the guardian "has the same power to revoke or amend the durable power of attorney that the principal would have had" (K.S.A. 58-627). Your parent can also nominate a guardian or conservator in the document for the court to consider.
How do you sign a Kansas living will?
Your parent signs and dates it in writing, before two qualified adult witnesses or a notary. Under K.S.A. 65-28,103, "Any adult person may execute a declaration directing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures in a terminal condition." It must be in writing, signed by your parent or by someone in their presence at their direction, dated, and either signed in front of two or more adult witnesses or "acknowledged before a notary public."
A witness can't be the person who signed for your parent, a relative by blood or marriage, someone entitled to part of the estate, or someone "directly financially responsible for declarant's medical care." Your parent is responsible for letting the attending physician know the declaration exists, and the physician then makes it part of the medical record.
When does the living will apply?
Only when your parent is a "qualified patient": two physicians who have personally examined them, one of them the attending physician, certify a terminal condition in writing. "Life-sustaining procedure" excludes medication or procedures "deemed necessary to provide comfort care or to alleviate pain."
"The desires of a qualified patient shall at all times supersede the effect of the declaration." Kansas also provides that "The declaration of a qualified patient diagnosed as pregnant by the attending physician shall have no effect during the course of the qualified patient's pregnancy." A physician who won't comply must transfer your parent to another physician.
What happens if your parent has no medical power of attorney?
In the Kansas statutes we read, there's no general priority list giving a spouse or adult child the power to make treatment decisions for an adult who lacks capacity and has no agent or guardian. The one family priority list we found, in K.S.A. 65-4974, covers only consent to approved research protocols.
A 2026 bill, HB 2720, would have enacted a "Kansas surrogate medical decisions act" to set such a hierarchy; the Legislature's page lists it as "Died." The Natural Death Act also says it "shall create no presumption concerning the intention of an individual who has not executed a declaration." The court route is guardianship; see conservatorship and guardianship.
How do you revoke a Kansas advance directive?
Your parent revokes each document under its own rule: a living will by destroying it or by a written or witnessed spoken revocation, and the statutory medical power of attorney form by a writing signed the same way as the original.
- Medical power of attorney. The statutory form provides that it "shall be revoked by an instrument in writing executed, witnessed or acknowledged in the same manner as required herein," unless your parent sets out another method. A revocation doesn't affect anyone who acts in good faith "without actual knowledge of the revocation" (K.S.A. 58-628), so tell the agent and the doctors.
- Living will. Under K.S.A. 65-28,104, it "may be revoked at any time" by destroying or defacing it, by a signed and dated written revocation, or by a spoken revocation in front of an adult witness who signs and dates a writing confirming it. A spoken revocation takes effect when the attending physician receives that writing.
What about a do not resuscitate directive?
Kansas also has a pre-hospital "do not resuscitate" directive under K.S.A. 65-4941 to 65-4948. It's a written, dated document signed in front of one adult witness who can't be a relative, an heir or someone financially responsible for your parent's medical care, and the statutory form has a line for the attending physician's or physician assistant's signature. The form states, "I understand I may revoke this directive at any time."
Frequently asked questions
Does a medical power of attorney need to be notarized in Kansas?
Not necessarily. Under K.S.A. 58-629(e), a Kansas durable power of attorney for health care decisions can be signed before two adult witnesses or acknowledged before a notary. The witnesses can't be the agent, a relative, an heir or someone financially responsible for your parent's care. Choosing the notary avoids finding two qualified witnesses.
Who can witness a living will in Kansas?
Any two adults who aren't the person signing for your parent, related to your parent by blood or marriage, entitled to part of the estate by will or inheritance, or directly financially responsible for your parent's medical care. Your parent can instead acknowledge the declaration before a notary, under K.S.A. 65-28,103.
Where can I get a Kansas medical power of attorney form?
Kansas law prints one. K.S.A. 58-632 sets out the durable power of attorney for health care decisions form, and K.S.A. 65-28,103 sets out the living will declaration. Both say "substantially" in that form, and the living will can include other specific directions. An attorney can also prepare them.
Who makes medical decisions in Kansas if there's no medical power of attorney?
The Kansas statutes we read don't set a general priority list of relatives for treatment decisions. A family priority list exists only for consent to approved research. A 2026 bill to create a surrogate hierarchy died. Without an agent, a court-appointed guardian may be needed, which is why naming an agent matters.
Is a medical power of attorney from another state valid in Kansas?
Under K.S.A. 58-630, a durable power of attorney for health care decisions that was valid under the law of your parent's state of residence when signed is treated as one under Kansas law. The Natural Death Act sections we read don't contain a similar rule for out-of-state living wills, so it's worth asking the doctor or an attorney.
Can my parent change their mind after signing?
Yes. A living will can be revoked at any time, including by destroying it or by a spoken revocation confirmed in writing by an adult witness. The statutory medical power of attorney form calls for a written revocation signed the same way as the original. Giving the doctor the new document keeps the record current.
Getting started
A medical power of attorney only helps if it's signed while your parent can sign it, with qualified witnesses or a notary, and the Kansas statutes we read give no relative a general right to decide if no agent is named. The plan this site builds asks four questions, including which state your parents live in, and puts the steps that matter most for your family in order. It's free and takes about 90 seconds.
Related guides
Sources
- K.S.A. 58-625, Durable power of attorney for health care decisions: the definition and required wording; Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes.
- K.S.A. 58-627, Guardians and nominations: a guardian's power to revoke or amend.
- K.S.A. 58-628, Revocation: good-faith reliance without knowledge of a revocation.
- K.S.A. 58-629, Authority, agents and witnesses: the agent's authority, when it starts, who can't serve and the signing rules.
- K.S.A. 58-630, Out-of-state documents: documents valid in the state of residence.
- K.S.A. 58-632, Form: the statutory health care power of attorney form.
- K.S.A. 65-28,103, Declaration: Natural Death Act signing rules and the living will form.
- K.S.A. 65-28,104, Revocation of declaration: how a living will is revoked.
- K.S.A. 65-4943: do not resuscitate directive signing rules.
- K.S.A. 65-4974: family consent for research protocols.
- Kansas Legislature, HB 2720 (2026): the proposed surrogate medical decisions act and its status.
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