Key Takeaways
- Tennessee uses one document rather than two, so the living will and the medical power of attorney are on the same form.
- The official form is free from the Tennessee Health Facilities Commission, and no particular form is required by statute.
- You need either two qualified witnesses or a notary public, not both.
- A witness cannot be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption, cannot inherit from you, and cannot be your attending physician or an employee of your health care facility.
- Your named healthcare agent cannot witness the document.
- Tennessee does not maintain an advance directive registry, so copies must go to your doctor, your agent, and your family.
- The form does not expire, though you should review it every three to five years and after any major change in your health.
Most people I meet in Nashville already know they should have an advance directive. What stops them is the form itself, sitting in a drawer half-finished because Part 2 uses words like “persistent vegetative state” and nobody wants to guess.
That hesitation is common. Pew Research found in late 2025 that only 31% of U.S. adults have a living will or advance health care directive, and the power of attorney portion is where most people stall.
This post walks through the Tennessee living will form section by section. Read it with the form in front of you, and you should be able to complete every part correctly, which is where life care planning begins for most of my clients.
In this post, you’ll learn:
- What the Tennessee living will form actually is
- Where to download the official version at no cost
- How to complete every section, including the witness rules
- What to do with it once you sign
What Is the Tennessee Living Will Form?
Here is the thing most people get wrong. In Tennessee, the living will is not a standalone document. It is one part of the Tennessee advance directive, a single legal document that combines your treatment wishes with the appointment of a healthcare agent.
Many states split these into two forms. Tennessee combines them, so you complete a single document rather than hunting for a second one that doesn’t exist here.
What Each Half Does
The living will half records your health care decisions in advance. It covers what you want if you have a terminal condition, if you are permanently unconscious, and if you can no longer speak for yourself.
The other half names your agent. That person makes medical decisions when you are unable to make your own, and the form lets you specify what they may and may not do.
Where to Get the Free Tennessee Living Will Form
The official form is free. Tennessee’s Health Facilities Commission publishes it, and you can download the Advance Directive for Health Care at no cost, print it, and complete it at your kitchen table.
You do not have to use it. Tennessee law requires no particular form, so an advance care plan drafted by an elder law attorney is equally valid and often more specific.
When the Standard Form Is Enough
For most people, it is. If your medical history is uncomplicated, your family agrees on your wishes, and your choices fit the categories on the page, the state form does the job.
Complexity is the exception. A progressive diagnosis, strong feelings about a particular treatment, or a family likely to argue are all reasons to create something more detailed than a checkbox allows.
How to Complete the Tennessee Living Will Form Section by Section
Here is the walkthrough. Have the form in front of you, and take the parts in order.
Your Personal Information
Name, date of birth, and address at the top. Use your legal name exactly as it appears on your driver’s license or passport, because a hospital matching this document to your chart will look for an exact match.
Part 1: Appointment of Healthcare Agent and Medical Power of Attorney
This is the medical power of attorney portion, and it matters more than any other section. You name a health care agent who makes health care decisions when you are unable to speak for yourself, and you give their full name, address, and phone number.
Name an alternate. The most common failure I see is a form with one agent who has since died, moved, or become unable to serve, leaving the document with no one to hold the durable power it grants.
Part 2: Instructions About Health Care
This is the living will component, and it is where people stop. The form asks about three situations, and each has a specific meaning:
- Terminal condition. An incurable condition that will cause death within a relatively short time, regardless of treatment.
- End-stage condition. An advanced, progressive, irreversible condition that has caused severe and permanent deterioration.
- Permanently unconscious. A persistent vegetative state or irreversible coma, with no reasonable expectation of regaining awareness.
For each, you choose whether to continue or stop life support. There is no wrong answer, and the only bad outcome is leaving it blank, forcing someone else to guess.
Specific Treatment Wishes
The form has space to address particular treatments. What each choice means in a Nashville hospital:
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Chest compressions and defibrillation if your heart stops. Declining means a natural death rather than resuscitation attempts.
- Breathing machine. Mechanical ventilation when you cannot breathe on your own. This is often temporary, so consider whether you want a trial period rather than a flat yes or no.
- Artificial nutrition and hydration. A feeding tube. Many people accept other treatment and decline this one, and the form lets you separate them.
- Comfort care and pain management. Always available regardless of your other choices, and worth stating explicitly so nobody hesitates.
Part 3: Organ and Tissue Donation
Optional, and it takes thirty seconds. You may specify organ and tissue donation for transplant, therapy, research, education, or any purpose, and you may limit it to specific organs.
Part 4: Signature, Witnesses, and Notary Public
This is where forms fail. Under Tennessee law, you sign, and then you need either two witnesses or a notary public, not both.
A defective signature page is not a paperwork problem. It means the document may not be legally valid when a hospital reads it during a crisis, which is the very moment it is meant to exist for.
Who Can and Cannot Serve as a Witness in Tennessee
This is where most DIY forms fail. Tennessee law disqualifies more people than you might expect, and a hospital reviewing the document will check for it.
| Who | Can witness? | Why |
| Neighbor | Yes | No relation, no inheritance, no role in your care |
| Coworker | Yes | Unless they work in your health care |
| Adult child | No | Related by blood and entitled to part of your estate |
| Spouse or sibling | No | Related by blood or marriage |
| Your healthcare agent | No | Cannot witness their own appointment |
| Attending physician | No | Excluded by statute |
| Nursing home employee where you live | No | Employee of the healthcare provider treating you |
Anyone who inherits from you is out. That rules out most family members, which is why I tell clients to consider neighbors, friends from church, and colleagues before considering relatives.
The notary route avoids the whole question. If finding two qualified witnesses is difficult, a notary public alone satisfies Tennessee law, and most banks in Nashville will notarize for account holders at no charge.
What Happens After You Complete the Tennessee Living Will Form
Signing it is the middle of the process, not the end. A form nobody can find does nothing.
Who Should Get a Copy
Distribute it deliberately:
- Your primary care physician and any specialist treating you
- Your named agent, plus the alternate
- Family members who should know it exists, even if they are not named
- Nashville hospital systems where you receive care, including Vanderbilt, Saint Thomas, and TriStar, which can add it to your medical record
- Your elder law attorney, who keeps a copy with your other documents
Getting it into the chart matters more than people realize. A Johns Hopkins study published in 2026 found that advance directives available in the electronic health record well before death were associated with less intensive treatment and a lower likelihood of dying in the hospital.
Tennessee Advance Directive Registry
Tennessee does not have one. No state registry exists, so there is no central database a hospital can search in an emergency.
There is one useful workaround. The Department of Safety lets Tennessee drivers note on their license record that they have completed an advance directive, and that flag is accessible to law enforcement during a crisis.
Keeping It Accessible
Do not put it in a safe deposit box. A document locked in a bank on a Sunday night is one nobody can access when an emergency happens.
Keep a copy at home where family can find it, give a digital copy to your agent, and tell the people who might be called what exists and where it is.
When to Update Your Tennessee Living Will Form
The form does not expire. It remains valid until you revoke it, meaning an outdated document continues to operate exactly as written even when your circumstances have changed.
Five things should send you back to it:
- A serious illness or diagnosis. New information about your health often changes what you want.
- Major surgery. Review before the procedure rather than after.
- A change in your values. People’s feelings about life support shift with age and experience, and that is normal.
- Your named agent becomes unavailable. Death, distance, divorce, or declining health of the person you named.
- Moving to Tennessee from another state. Your old state’s form may be honored here, and a Tennessee form removes the question entirely.
Review it every three to five years regardless. I ask clients to review their advance directive whenever they update anything else, because it’s easy to forget, since nothing prompts you to revisit it.
Should I Use the Standard Form or Work With an Attorney?
The state form works for most people. It covers the common choices in plain language; a competent adult can complete it without assistance, and Tennessee law requires no particular form.
Complexity is where a lawyer earns the fee. A progressive diagnosis, strong feelings about a specific treatment, a blended family, or relatives likely to disagree all call for language more precise than a checkbox allows.
What We Review
Our firm reads existing documents as part of life care planning. People bring in forms they completed years ago, and the most common problems are a named agent who is no longer available and a signature page that does not meet the witness requirements.
We also look at how the pieces fit together. Your advance directive, your wills and trusts, and your financial power of attorney should say consistent things about who acts for you, but they often don’t when each was created separately.
Frequently Asked Questions: Tennessee Living Will Form
Does the Tennessee living will form expire?
No. The form does not expire, but it should be reviewed regularly and updated after major health or life changes.
Can I change my Tennessee living will form after signing it?
Yes. You can revoke or update it at any time while you have legal capacity. Notify your agent, your physician, and anyone holding a copy of the old version.
Is the Tennessee living will form the same as a DNR?
No. A DNR is a medical order signed by a physician. The living will form is a legal document you complete in advance to express treatment preferences and name a health care agent. Tennessee also uses a separate POST form, which is a physician order covering a broader scope of treatment.
What if my family disagrees with what my Tennessee living will says?
A validly executed advance directive takes legal precedence over family objections. This is one of the strongest reasons to have one, because it removes the burden of the decision from your loved ones entirely.
Does a Tennessee living will cover mental health treatment decisions?
Generally no. Mental health treatment decisions are covered by a separate Tennessee document called a Mental Health Advance Directive.
Complete Your Tennessee Advance Directive Form With Help
Filling out the Tennessee living will form is one of the most useful hours a Nashville adult can spend. It costs nothing, it takes an afternoon, and it spares the people you love from guessing at the worst possible moment.
Our attorneys at Elder Law of Nashville help families in Nashville, Franklin, Brentwood, Hendersonville, and throughout Middle Tennessee complete their advance directives and review their existing documents. If yours is sitting half-finished in a drawer, bring it in.
Contact us, and we will walk through the power of attorney section together, because it is the part that matters most and the one people often leave blank.
About the Author
Barbara J. Moss is the founding attorney of Elder Law of Nashville, an elder law firm serving families throughout Middle Tennessee. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and ElderCounsel, and is accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.