Minnesota: Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements
The short answer
A Minnesota health care directive that appoints a health care agent is valid when a person with capacity signs and dates it, states their name, and has the signature verified either by a notary or by witnesses — you do not need both, and the suggested form uses two witnesses. The agent you name cannot witness or notarize it, and at least one witness must not be a provider giving you direct care. Unless you set other conditions, your agent can act only after a physician, advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant finds that you cannot make your own decisions.
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This is the general rule in Minnesota. Ezel applies current Minnesota law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law & document | Health Care Directives Act, Minn. Stat. ch. 145C. One combined 'health care directive' that must include a health care power of attorney (agent appointment), health care instructions, or both (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(6)). Minnesota has no separate medical-POA form and no statutory default-surrogate list. Non-mandatory suggested form at § 145C.16. |
|---|---|
| Who can sign | A principal with capacity to execute it, signed by the principal or by another person the principal authorizes to sign on their behalf; the document must be in writing, dated, and state the principal's name (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(1)–(4)). The agent must be an individual age 18 or older (§ 145C.01 subd. 2). |
| Witnesses or notary | Notary OR witnesses — your choice. The signature must be verified 'either by a notary public or by witnesses as provided under this chapter' (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(5)); you do not need both. The suggested form sets the witness route at 'Two witnesses' (§ 145C.16). |
| Who can't witness or serve | Witnesses/notary (§ 145C.03 subd. 3): the named agent or alternate agent may not witness or notarize; at least one witness must not be a provider giving the principal direct care (or that provider's employee), though a notary may be. Agent (§ 145C.03 subd. 2): the person named to determine the principal's capacity cannot serve as agent, and a health care provider attending the principal (or their employee) at execution or when decisions are made cannot serve unless related by blood, marriage, registered domestic partnership, or adoption, or the directive specifies otherwise. |
| When the agent can act | Springing by default: the agent's authority arises only when the attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant determines the principal lacks decision-making capacity for that decision (or other conditions the principal specified are met), and it ends on recovery (§§ 145C.06, 145C.07 subd. 1). |
| Agent's powers & limits | By default the agent may make any health care decision the principal could — including giving, refusing, or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment and deciding about intrusive mental health treatment, choosing providers, choosing where the principal lives for care, and reviewing records (§ 145C.07; suggested form § 145C.16); organ-donation and body-disposition powers must be expressly granted. Limits: nothing may condone mercy killing or euthanasia (§ 145C.14), and no directive may authorize assisted suicide (§ 145C.01 subds. 1a, 4). |
| How to revoke | With capacity, revoke at any time by destroying the directive (or directing another to, in your presence) with intent to revoke, a written dated statement of intent, a verbal statement before two witnesses (who need not be present at the same time), or a later inconsistent directive (§ 145C.09 subd. 1). A spouse- or registered-domestic-partner agent is automatically revoked when dissolution, annulment, or termination proceedings commence, unless the directive says otherwise (§ 145C.09 subd. 2). |
| Out-of-state directives | Yes. A directive executed in another state is legally sufficient in Minnesota if it complies with the law where executed or with § 145C.03 (§ 145C.04); no directive may override Minnesota's assisted-suicide prohibition. |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
Minnesota rolls the two advance-planning documents into one instrument called a
health care directive, governed by Minn. Stat. ch. 145C. In a single document you
can name a health care agent to decide for you, write treatment instructions (the
"living will"), or do both — but the directive must contain at least one of those
(§ 145C.03 subd. 1(6)). This page is about the agent-appointment half: the health care
power of attorney. Two Minnesota facts frame everything else. There is no separate
"medical power of attorney" form — the appointment lives inside the health care
directive. And if you sign nothing, Minnesota has no statutory default-surrogate
list, which is exactly why signing a directive matters here.
Requirements one by one
Governing law and document
Chapter 145C supplies the rules and, at § 145C.16, a "suggested form" that "is not
a required form." A directive must, under § 145C.03 subd. 1, "include a health care
instruction, a health care power of attorney, or both" — so you can appoint an agent
without writing any treatment instructions, or vice versa.
Who can sign
Section 145C.03 subd. 1 requires that the directive "be executed by a principal with
capacity to do so with the signature of the principal or with the signature of another
person authorized by the principal to sign on behalf of the principal," and that it be
"in writing," "dated," and "state the principal's name." The person you appoint as your
agent must be "an individual age 18 or older" (§ 145C.01 subd. 2).
Witnesses or notary
This is the choice at the heart of Minnesota's rule. The directive must "contain
verification of the principal's signature ... either by a notary public or by
witnesses" (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(5)). You pick one route — you do not need both. If you
use witnesses, the suggested form sets the count: "Two witnesses must sign. Only one
of the two witnesses can be a health care provider or an employee of a health care
provider giving direct care to me on the day I sign this document" (§ 145C.16).
Who can't witness or serve
Two layers of eligibility rules apply. For witnesses and the notary (§ 145C.03
subd. 3): "[a] health care agent or alternate health care agent ... may not act as a
witness or notary public," and "[a]t least one witness ... must not be a health care
provider providing direct care to the principal or an employee" of one — though "[a]
person notarizing a health care directive may be" such an employee. For who may serve
as agent (§ 145C.03 subd. 2): the person you name to determine your capacity cannot
also be your agent, and a health care provider attending you (or their employee) cannot
serve "unless the individual appointed is related to the principal by blood, marriage,
registered domestic partnership, or adoption, or unless the principal has otherwise
specified."
When the agent can act
The power is springing. Under § 145C.06 and § 145C.07 subd. 1, the agent "has
authority to make any particular health care decision only if the principal lacks
decision-making capacity, in the determination of the attending physician, advanced
practice registered nurse, or physician assistant" — or if other conditions you wrote
into the directive are met. Note that a nurse practitioner or physician assistant, not
only a physician, can make that determination. Authority ends when you recover
capacity.
Agent's powers and limits
Minnesota grants a broad default scope. The suggested form gives the agent automatic
power to "[m]ake any health care decision," including "deciding whether to stop or not
start health care that is keeping me or might keep me alive, and deciding about
intrusive mental health treatment," plus choosing providers, choosing where you live
for care, and reviewing records (§ 145C.07; § 145C.16). Unlike many states, Minnesota
does not carve mental health treatment out of the agent's authority — it is included by
default. A few powers are not automatic and must be initialed: deciding about organ
donation and about what happens to your body after death. The outer limits: nothing in
the chapter may "condone, authorize, or approve mercy killing or euthanasia"
(§ 145C.14), and "health care" excludes anything that would violate Minnesota's
assisted-suicide ban (§ 145C.01 subd. 4).
How to revoke
While you have capacity you may revoke "in whole or in part at any time" (§ 145C.09
subd. 1) by destroying the document with intent to revoke, a signed and dated written
statement, a verbal statement "in the presence of two witnesses who do not have to be
present at the same time," or a later inconsistent directive. Minnesota also cancels a
spouse-agent automatically: under § 145C.09 subd. 2, naming your spouse or registered
domestic partner as agent "is revoked by the commencement of proceedings for
dissolution, annulment, or termination" — the filing, not the final decree, is what
triggers it — unless your directive says otherwise.
Out-of-state directives
A directive you signed elsewhere carries over. Under § 145C.04, one "executed in
another state or jurisdiction is legally sufficient under this chapter if it ...
complies with the law of the state or jurisdiction in which it was executed" or with
§ 145C.03 — with the caveat that nothing lets it override Minnesota's assisted-suicide
prohibition.
What trips people up
- You choose notary or witnesses — not both. Section 145C.03 subd. 1(5) makes them
alternatives. A directive signed before a notary alone is valid; so is one signed
before two qualifying witnesses. - The agent can't be a witness or the notary. People often have the person they are
appointing sign as a witness too. Minnesota disqualifies the agent (and any alternate
agent) from witnessing or notarizing (§ 145C.03 subd. 3(a)). - At least one witness must be independent of your care. Only one of your two
witnesses may be a provider (or a provider's employee) giving you direct care; the
other cannot be (§ 145C.16; § 145C.03 subd. 3(b)). - Divorce cancels a spouse-agent as soon as a case is filed. You do not have to wait
for the divorce to be final — commencing dissolution, annulment, or termination
proceedings revokes the spouse-agent appointment automatically (§ 145C.09 subd. 2). - Your agent's mental-health authority is broad by default. Minnesota's default form
lets the agent decide about intrusive mental health treatment (§ 145C.16). If you want
to limit that, you must write the limit into the directive.
Common questions
Does a Minnesota health care directive have to be notarized?
No. You can either have it notarized or have two qualifying witnesses sign it — your
choice (§ 145C.03 subd. 1(5)).
Can the person I'm naming as agent also be a witness?
No. The named agent and any alternate agent are barred from witnessing or notarizing the
directive (§ 145C.03 subd. 3(a)).
Who decides that I've lost capacity so my agent can act?
Your attending physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant —
any one of the three can make that determination (§§ 145C.06, 145C.07 subd. 1).
Will a directive I signed in another state work in Minnesota?
Yes, if it was valid where you executed it or meets Minnesota's own requirements
(§ 145C.04).
Statutes and sources
- Minn. Stat. § 145C.03 — legal sufficiency (writing, dated, name, capacity,
signature verified by notary or witnesses) and witness/notary eligibility.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.03 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.01 — definitions: agent is an individual age 18 or older;
"health care" excludes assisted suicide.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.01 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.16 — suggested (non-mandatory) form: "Two witnesses must sign"
option and the agent's automatic powers.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.16 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.06 — when effective: on determination of incapacity by
physician, APRN, or PA.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.06 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.07 — authority and duties of the health care agent.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.07 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.09 — revocation, and automatic revocation of a spouse or
registered-domestic-partner agent on commencement of divorce proceedings.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.09 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.04 — recognition of a directive executed in another state.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.04 (accessed 2026-07-16) - Minn. Stat. § 145C.14 — no construction condoning mercy killing or euthanasia.
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/145C.14 (accessed 2026-07-16)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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