Free Vermont Advance Directive Template

A Vermont advance directive reaches further than the treatment instructions people usually expect. Under 18 V.S.A. Section 9701, it can appoint an agent, identify a preferred primary care clinician, set out health care instructions or treatment goals, make an anatomical gift, and direct the disposition of your remains along with funeral goods and services.

Chapter 231 of Title 18 governs all of it. Vermont does not require a specific form, though the Department of Health posts a suggested one.

Two rules deserve close attention here: who may witness your signature, and what changes if you sign inside a care facility.

Who Can Sign

An adult with capacity may execute an advance directive at any time.

Signing and Witnessing

Section 9703 asks for a dated document, executed by you, or by another individual in your presence at your express direction if you are physically unable to sign. You then sign in the presence of two or more witnesses aged at least 18.

Those witnesses do more than sign. Each affirms that you appeared to understand the nature of the document, and that you seemed free from duress or undue influence when you signed.

Family Cannot Witness

This is where Vermont differs sharply. Section 9703 bars your agent from witnessing, and it also bars your spouse, your parent, your adult sibling, your adult child, and your adult grandchild.

A health care provider, on the other hand, may serve as a witness.

Signing in a Hospital or Care Facility

If you are being admitted to or already living in a nursing home or residential care facility, or being admitted to or already a patient in a hospital, an extra condition applies. The directive is not effective unless a qualifying individual explains its nature and effect to you, then signs a statement affirming they gave that explanation.

That person may also serve as one of your two witnesses.

Digital Signatures

You, your witnesses, and the individual who provides that explanation may all sign digitally. A remote witness has to meet the conditions Section 9703 sets out.

Your close family, and the agent you name. Section 9703 rules out your spouse, your parent, your adult sibling, your adult child, and your adult grandchild, along with the agent appointed in the document.

That list catches the people most likely to be in the room, so plan the signing rather than improvising it. Friends, neighbors, colleagues, and members of your care team all remain eligible, since Vermont expressly allows a health care provider to witness.

The reasoning is straightforward. Vermont asks witnesses to affirm you were free from duress or undue influence, and relatives who may inherit sit awkwardly in that role.

Tip: Line up three possible witnesses rather than two. If one turns out to be a relative you had not thought of in those terms, you still have a spare.

1. Confirm you are an adult with capacity, then decide what your directive will cover.
2. Name your agent, and identify a preferred primary care clinician if you have one.
3. Write your health care instructions or treatment goals, and add any anatomical gift.
4. Set out your wishes for the disposition of your remains and funeral arrangements if you want them covered.
5. Line up two witnesses who are not your agent and not close family.
6. Sign and date in their presence, then have them sign and affirm.
7. Arrange the explanation statement first if you are signing during admission to a hospital or care facility.
8. File it with the Vermont Advance Directive Registry, which accepts submissions from Vermont residents at no charge.

Start your Vermont advance directive now and have it ready to file.

Because Vermont defines the document broadly, one form can settle several questions at once.

Your agent comes first: who decides for you, and what latitude they hold. Next come your health care instructions or treatment goals, which is where you say what matters more to you than survival at any cost.

You can also identify the clinician you would prefer to lead your care. Anatomical gifts sit in the same document rather than a separate one.

Then Vermont goes past the point where most states stop. Disposition of your remains, funeral goods, and funeral services can all be directed here, which spares your family from guessing during the worst week of their lives.

The Vermont Advance Directive Registry ties it together. It is a secure, web-based database, hospitals and other providers can reach it, and Vermont residents may submit their directive to it without paying a fee.