Will.com / Healthcare directive / Delaware
DE · Advance Health-Care Directive
Make your Delaware healthcare directive.
Tell doctors what care you want and name someone to speak for you if you can't. Legally valid in Delaware. Free to create, or add secure online document storage with the $29/year subscription.
Delaware healthcare directive requirements
How it works
- 1
Answer a few questions
About your care preferences and who you want making decisions.
- 2
Download your healthcare directive
A complete, personalized document, formatted for Delaware.
- 3
Sign and share
Sign in front of 1 adult witness. Give a copy to your healthcare agent and your doctor.
What governs a Delaware directive
Delaware's healthcare-directive statute is at 16 Del. C. §§ 2501-2530 (Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act 2023; 84 Del. Laws c. 467, eff. 2025-09-30); execution requirements at 16 Del. C. § 2508, optional statutory form at 16 Del. C. § 2511. The official form is the Advance Health-Care Directive. Last verified 2025-09-30. Your directive is valid the moment it's signed under your state's witness and notary rules above; it only takes effect if your physician determines you can't make or communicate decisions yourself.
Who can witness your Delaware directive
16 Del. C. § 2508(d) (UHCDA 2023, eff. 2025-09-30) requires one adult witness: the witness must reasonably believe the principal's act is voluntary and knowing; must not be the agent, or the agent's spouse, domestic partner, or cohabitant; must not, where the principal resides or is receiving care in a nursing home or long-term care facility, be an owner, operator, employee, or contractor of that facility; and must be present when the principal signs or when the principal represents that the directive reflects the principal's wishes (§ 2508(d)(5)). Delaware attaches no relation-based exception to the facility bar. Presence is satisfied by physical presence, by real-time audio and visual transmission, or by real-time audio alone where the principal's identity is personally known to the witness or the witness can authenticate it from the principal's answers (§ 2508(e)). Delaware imposes no other witness restriction: it does not disqualify a witness who is related to the principal, who stands to inherit under any will or codicil or by operation of law, who is financially responsible for the principal's medical care, or who is the principal's attending physician or insurer.
Two tiers, both private
Free: nothing leaves your browser. No account, no storage. Clear your answers whenever.
Subscription ($29/year): zero-knowledge encrypted storage. We store the ciphertext; only you hold the key. Edit and update as life changes.
Ready to create your directive?
Whatever you decide today, your family won’t have to guess. Start free, or save it to your account for $29 a year.