Free New Jersey Living Will

In New Jersey, the living will is the Instruction Directive, a written instruction that is valid with no agent named.

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"Declarant" means an adult who has the mental capacity to execute an advance directive and does so. may make a instruction directive in New Jersey.

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The state whose law the document is prepared under. In Massachusetts, Michigan, New York and Oregon, treatment instructions are part of the healthcare power of attorney; those state pages lead there.

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Yes. New Jersey provides a form, published by New Jersey Department of Health, and a document in substantially that form is accepted. The document prepared here is composed to the statute and follows it.

The declarant signs it in the presence of 2 adult witnesses, or acknowledges it before a notary public instead. A declarant who cannot sign may have another adult sign at the declarant's direction and in the declarant's presence.

When you can no longer make your own treatment decisions and your condition is one the statute names: terminal condition; permanently unconscious; life-sustaining treatment is experimental and not a proven therapy, or is likely to be ineffective or futile in prolonging life, or is likely to merely prolong an imminent dying process; serious irreversible illness or condition, as certified by your attending physician and one other physician. New Jersey defines each term in the statute, and the document prints the definitions it uses.

Yes. New Jersey lets the declaration direct that artificially provided nutrition and hydration be withheld or withdrawn.

New Jersey recognizes these ways to revoke it: notification, orally or in writing, to the health care representative, physician, nurse, or other health care professional, or other reliable witness; any other act evidencing an intent to revoke the document; execution of a subsequent proxy directive or instruction directive, or both, in accordance with section 4 of P.L.1991, c.201 (C.26:2H-56).

The Living Will in New Jersey

Under New Jersey's advance-directive statute, a directive may give treatment instructions without appointing an agent. The document is that instruction-only Instruction Directive; the agent part of the same instrument belongs to the healthcare power of attorney.

New Jersey provides a form, published by New Jersey Department of Health, and a document in substantially that form is accepted. The declaration is composed to the statute and follows it.

The declaration operates when the declarant can no longer make treatment decisions and the condition is one the statute names: terminal condition; permanently unconscious; life-sustaining treatment is experimental and not a proven therapy, or is likely to be ineffective or futile in prolonging life, or is likely to merely prolong an imminent dying process; serious irreversible illness or condition. Two physicians, the attending physician and one other, certify the condition before the declaration takes effect.

Signing in New Jersey takes the declarant's signature before 2 adult witnesses, or a notary acknowledgment in place of the witnesses. Another adult may sign for a declarant who cannot, at the declarant's direction and in the declarant's presence.

Legal Sources

(5)·Updated September 27, 2026

SimplyTrust Editorial

Data sourced from New Jersey statutes and official state code. How we research.

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In New Jersey, a will is signed before 2 witnesses, and notarization is not required.

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In-depth guides covering New Jersey probate laws, trust requirements, and estate planning strategies.

Free New Jersey Living Will

In New Jersey, the living will is the Instruction Directive, a written instruction that is valid with no agent named.

Progress0%

The Living Will in New Jersey

New Jersey provides a form, published by New Jersey Department of Health, and a document in substantially that form is accepted. The declaration is composed to the statute and follows it.

Free New Jersey Living Will

Your Information

Is this your situation?

Serious Diagnosis

Retirement

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How Do I Sign Estate Documents?

Will My Estate Documents Transfer?

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Free New Jersey Living Will

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