Document end-of-life preferences in North Carolina: North Carolina Living Will

It's fast and simple to outline your medical preferences using a free North Carolina Living Will template from Rocket Lawyer:

1. Make the document - Provide a few general details, and we will do the rest
2. Send and share - Discuss it with your healthcare agent or get legal help
3. Sign it and make it legal - Optional or not, notarization/witnesses are a best practice

This solution is often much less expensive and less time-consuming than finding and working with a traditional provider. If necessary, you may start a Living Will on behalf of your spouse, an elderly parent, or another relative, and then have them sign once you've drafted it. Please note that for a Living Will to be considered legally valid, the principal must be a mentally competent adult when they sign. In the event that the principal is already unable to make their own decisions, a conservatorship might be necessary. When dealing with such a situation, it's important to speak to a lawyer .

Anyone who is over 18 years old ought to have a Living Will. Though it is unpleasant to acknowledge, a time might come when you aren't able to make your own medical decisions. Common occasions where you might consider it useful to make or update your Living Will include:

• You are planning to live in a care facility
• You've been diagnosed with a terminal illness
• You are getting older or have declining health
• You are facing the possibility of surgery or hospitalization

Whether your North Carolina Living Will has been produced as a result of a change in your health or as part of a forward-looking plan, notarization and witnesses are highly encouraged for protecting this document and your agent if their power and authority are questioned by a third party. That said, a Living Will is deemed invalid in North Carolina if the principal is pregnant.

Making a Living Will is typically simple to do; however, you or your agent(s) might need advice. Depending on whom you approach, some attorneys will not even accept requests to review documents that they didn't work on. A more favorable approach would be through the Rocket Lawyer On Call^® network of attorneys. If you sign up for a Premium membership, you can ask for feedback from an attorney with relevant experience or pose other questions related to your Living Will. As always, we'll be here to support you.

The cost of hiring and working with a traditional lawyer to produce a Living Will could be anywhere from $200 to $1,000, depending on where you are located. Rocket Lawyer offers much more than most other Living Will template websites that you may find. As a Rocket Lawyer member, you can get up to a 40% discount when hiring an attorney from our Rocket Lawyer attorney network.

Your North Carolina Living Will form has its own list of tips to follow while finalizing the document. Feel free to take any or all of the following actions with your PoA: making edits, saving it in PDF format or as a Word file, printing it, or signing it. Finally, be sure to provide a final copy of your fully signed document to your agent(s) and care providers.

The guidelines and restrictions for Living Wills vary in each state; however, in North Carolina, your document needs the signatures of two witnesses and a notary public. Witnesses to a Living Will cannot be your attending physician or mental health provider, nor can they be an employee of any healthcare facility, adult care facility, or nursing home where you are a patient or resident. Your spouse, relatives, heirs, and other beneficiaries are also prohibited. As a basic standard, witnesses must be at least 18 years old, and none should simultaneously be designated as your healthcare agent.