Ohio Living Will: What It Is, How It Works, and When It Takes Effect

An Ohio living will is a signed, witnessed or notarized declaration under R.C. Chapter 2133 that tells physicians and family whether to continue or withhold life-sustaining treatment, tube feeding, and IV fluids if the declarant is later diagnosed as terminally ill or permanently unconscious and cannot communicate. It works alongside, not instead of, a healthcare power of attorney.

What Is a Living Will in Ohio?

An Ohio living will is a written declaration, governed by the Modified Uniform Rights of the Terminally Ill Act at R.C. Chapter 2133, in which an adult states in advance whether life-sustaining treatment should be used, continued, withheld, or withdrawn in a terminal condition or a permanently unconscious state. The declarant signs the document, and R.C. 2133.01 defines the declarant as the adult who executes it.

The declaration can address several specific choices, including:

• Whether life-sustaining treatment continues or stops in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state
• Whether artificial nutrition (tube feeding) and artificial hydration (IV fluids) are administered or withheld
• Whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is authorized, continued, or withheld
• The declarant’s wishes regarding comfort care, which R.C. 2133.01(C) defines as nutrition, hydration, or any other measure given to ease pain rather than to postpone death
• A designation of individuals the attending physician should notify before treatment is withheld or withdrawn

Because the document speaks in the declarant’s own words, it reduces how much a family or physician has to guess at what the declarant would have wanted.

When Does a Living Will Take Effect in Ohio?

A living will becomes operative only after it is communicated to the attending physician and two physicians independently confirm the qualifying condition. Until both of those things happen, the declaration has no operative effect, and ordinary medical decision-making continues.

R.C. 2133.03(A)(1) sets three conditions that must all be met before a declaration operates: the declaration is communicated to the attending physician, the attending physician and one other examining physician determine the declarant is in a terminal condition or a permanently unconscious state (whichever the declaration addresses), and the attending physician determines the declarant can no longer make informed decisions about life-sustaining treatment. For a permanently unconscious state specifically, R.C. 2133.03(A)(2) requires that the confirming physician be qualified, by training or experience, to make that determination.

This two-physician confirmation requirement is a built-in safeguard: no single physician’s opinion triggers the declaration.

Does an Ohio Living Will Need to Be Notarized?

No. Under R.C. 2133.02(A)(1), a living will is valid if it is signed, dated, and either witnessed by two qualifying adults or acknowledged before a notary public. Notarization is one of two lawful paths to execution, not an added requirement layered on top of witnessing.

If the declarant chooses the witnessed route, R.C. 2133.02(B)(1) requires two adult witnesses who are not related to the declarant by blood, marriage, or adoption, who are not the declarant’s attending physician, and who are not the administrator of a nursing home where the declarant is receiving care. Each witness signs after the declarant and attests, by signing, to a belief that the declarant appeared to be of sound mind and free of duress, fraud, or undue influence.

A declarant who prefers a single trip to a notary, rather than arranging two qualifying witnesses, may use the acknowledgment path instead. Either method satisfies the statute.

What Is the Difference Between a Living Will and a Healthcare Power of Attorney in Ohio?

A living will states the declarant’s wishes for specific end-of-life situations. A healthcare power of attorney names a person, the healthcare agent, who is authorized to make the full range of medical decisions whenever the declarant cannot decide for themselves, not only in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state.

The two documents answer different questions:

• The healthcare power of attorney names the decision-maker. The named agent has authority across the broad run of medical situations that can arise during incapacity, from a temporary surgical recovery to a long hospitalization.
• The living will supplies the answer. For the narrower, defined circumstances of a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state, the declaration gives the agent and the medical team the declarant’s own written instruction rather than leaving the agent to interpret it.

A complete Ohio incapacity plan generally includes both documents, together with a financial power of attorney and a HIPAA authorization. For a fuller look at how these documents interact, see the Team at Rhodium Law’s article on planning for incapacity in Ohio and the powers of attorney overview.

What Is the Difference Between a Living Will and a DNR Order?

A living will is a declaration signed by the declarant; a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order is a medical order, typically signed by a physician, directing that CPR not be attempted if the patient’s heart or breathing stops. The two documents serve different, narrower purposes and can exist side by side.

A DNR order addresses one specific event: a cardiac or respiratory arrest. A living will can address CPR as one item among several, but it also reaches broader life-sustaining treatment questions, including artificial nutrition and hydration, that a DNR order does not cover. R.C. Chapter 2133 governs both the living will declaration and Ohio’s DNR identification framework within the same chapter, but they remain separate instruments with separate execution requirements.

What Does an Ohio Living Will Cover?

A typical Ohio living will asks the declarant to make written choices across several categories, so the instructions are as specific as the declarant wants them to be. Common categories include:

• Life-sustaining treatment: whether to continue or withdraw treatment that may prolong life in a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state
• Artificial nutrition and hydration: whether tube feeding and IV fluids are administered or withheld once the declaration is operative
• Comfort care: preferences for pain relief and comfort measures, which remain available under R.C. 2133.01(C) regardless of the declarant’s other choices
• CPR: whether cardiopulmonary resuscitation is authorized, continued, or withheld
• Anatomical gifts: many declarants use the same planning conversation to record organ and tissue donation wishes, typically in a separate, linked document

There is no single correct set of answers. The right answers are the ones that reflect what the declarant actually wants for their own care.

How Do You Make a Living Will in Ohio?

An Ohio adult of sound mind makes a living will by putting their wishes in writing, signing and dating the declaration, and completing either the two-witness or notary acknowledgment process required by R.C. 2133.02. The declarant can revoke the declaration at any time, by any means that expresses an intent to revoke, regardless of physical or mental condition.

Because the document only becomes operative in a narrow, defined medical situation, the more important work often happens before signing: a direct conversation with family about what the declarant wants, and legal drafting that fits those wishes into language a hospital, physician, and healthcare agent can act on consistently. Reviewing the living will together with the healthcare power of attorney, financial power of attorney, and the rest of an estate plan helps confirm the documents work as one coordinated set rather than in conflict.

For the practice-area overview of how the Team at Rhodium Law approaches these documents, see advance directives and the broader estate planning practice page.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a living will legally binding in Ohio?

Yes. A declaration executed under R.C. 2133.02, once operative under R.C. 2133.03, directs the attending physician and health care facility to act in accordance with its terms or to comply with the transfer provisions in R.C. 2133.10. It is not merely advisory once the qualifying conditions are met.

Does a living will or a healthcare power of attorney take precedence in Ohio?

They address different situations rather than competing for precedence. The living will governs the specific, narrow circumstances of a terminal condition or permanently unconscious state that it describes. The healthcare power of attorney’s agent handles the broader range of medical decisions, including situations the living will does not reach.

Can I revoke my Ohio living will after signing it?

Yes. R.C. Chapter 2133 allows a declarant to revoke a living will at any time and in any manner that communicates an intent to revoke, without regard to the declarant’s physical or mental condition at that time. Updating an estate plan after a revocation keeps the healthcare team and family working from current documents.

What happens if I do not have a living will in Ohio?

Without a living will, a healthcare agent under a power of attorney, or family members involved in care decisions, must interpret what the declarant would have wanted in an end-of-life situation without the benefit of the declarant’s own written instruction. A living will removes that guesswork for the specific conditions it addresses.

Does an Ohio living will need to be notarized?

No, not necessarily. R.C. 2133.02(A)(1) allows execution either by two qualifying witnesses or by acknowledgment before a notary public. Only one of those two paths is required, not both.

Who can witness an Ohio living will?

R.C. 2133.02(B)(1) requires two adult witnesses who are not related to the declarant by blood, marriage, or adoption, who are not the declarant’s attending physician, and who are not the administrator of a nursing home where the declarant is receiving care.

Discuss your next step

The people who care about you deserve guidance about the medical choices that matter most to you. Make time for that conversation while you can express your wishes and consider how the documents should work together. Schedule a complimentary 15-minute Strategy Session with Intake Services to share your priorities and explore whether Rhodium Law is the right fit to help.

Planning for end-of-life decisions may also include written directions about the final disposition of remains under Ohio law.