South Carolina: Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements

South Carolina keeps the two advance-planning documents separate and gives the
health care agent its own statute. The health care power of attorney — naming
someone to make your medical decisions — is governed by S.C. Code Ann. §§ 62-5-500
to 62-5-518. The "living will" (in South Carolina, a Declaration of a Desire for a
Natural Death under Title 44, chapter 77) is a different document. This page is
about the health care power of attorney: appointing an agent. South Carolina is
unusual in one respect — it prescribes a mandatory statutory form, so your
document must track the form at § 62-5-504.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

The health care power of attorney "is a durable power of attorney" (§ 62-5-502), and
under § 62-5-503 it "must ... be substantially in the form set forth in Section
62-5-504." That form is not merely a template you may borrow — using it (or a
substantially identical document) is a legal requirement. The form carries a long
"INFORMATION ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT" notice and a fill-in agent designation.

Who can sign

The principal "must be eighteen years of age or older and of sound mind"
(§ 62-5-501(9)). Section 62-5-503(a)(2) requires the document to be "dated and signed
by the principal or in the principal's name by another person in the principal's
presence and by his direction" — so if you cannot sign yourself, someone may sign
your name, but only in your presence and at your direction.

Witnesses or notary

South Carolina requires two witnesses and does not require a notary. Under
§ 62-5-503(a)(3), the document must be "signed by at least two persons, each of whom
witnessed either the signing ... or the principal's acknowledgment of his signature."
There is no notarization requirement for the § 62-5-504 form. (A separate provision,
§ 62-5-517, offers a safe harbor for a document that carries two qualifying witness
signatures and a notary attestation — but the core requirement is two witnesses.)

Who can't witness or serve

The witness rules are strict. Under the § 62-5-504 form, a witness may not be "YOUR
SPOUSE, YOUR CHILDREN, GRANDCHILDREN, AND OTHER LINEAL DESCENDANTS; YOUR PARENTS,
GRANDPARENTS, AND OTHER LINEAL ANCESTORS; YOUR SIBLINGS AND THEIR LINEAL DESCENDANTS;
OR A SPOUSE OF ANY OF THESE"; a person "DIRECTLY FINANCIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR
MEDICAL CARE"; a will beneficiary or intestate heir; a life-insurance beneficiary;
"THE PERSONS NAMED ... AS YOUR AGENT OR SUCCESSOR AGENT"; or "YOUR PHYSICIAN OR AN
EMPLOYEE OF YOUR PHYSICIAN." And "IF YOU ARE A PATIENT IN A HEALTH FACILITY, NO MORE
THAN ONE WITNESS MAY BE AN EMPLOYEE OF THAT FACILITY."

Separately, § 62-5-503 limits who may serve as agent: your agent "may not be a
health care provider, or an employee of a provider, with whom [you have] a
provider-patient relationship at the time the health care power of attorney is
executed, or an employee of a nursing care facility in which [you reside], or a
spouse of" any of them, "unless" that person "is a relative of the principal."

When the agent can act

By default the power is springing. The statutory form states the document is
"effective upon, and only during, any period of mental incompetence" (§ 62-5-504). A
physician certifies that incompetence; § 62-5-502 provides that if the certifying
physician states the incompetence "precludes the principal from making all health
care decisions ... and that the principal's mental incompetence is permanent or of
extended duration, no further certification is" needed.

Agent's powers and limits

Once effective, your agent may make the health care decisions you could, "INCLUDING
THE POWER TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT" (§ 62-5-504). Section
62-5-505 adds specific powers: to access your medical records, "contract on the
principal's behalf for placement" in a facility, "hire and fire" your care personnel,
and exercise the same facility visitation rights as immediate family. The Act's
principal limit is about pregnancy: under § 62-5-507, "[i]f a principal has been
diagnosed as pregnant, life-sustaining procedures may not be withheld or withdrawn
... during the course of the principal's pregnancy." And if you also have a valid
Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death, that living will controls where it
applies (§ 62-5-509).

How to revoke

Revocation is easy and informal. Under § 62-5-512, you may revoke "by a writing,
an oral statement, or any other act constituting notification by the principal to the
agent or to a health care provider ... of the principal's specific intent to revoke,"
or by executing a later health care POA or a durable POA that says so or is
inconsistent with it. Divorce works through the successor: if the agent is your spouse
and you become "divorced or separated," your named successor agent takes over
(§§ 62-5-504, 62-5-511).

Out-of-state directives

The Act has no health-care-specific reciprocity clause, but the statutory form itself
declares the document "intended to be valid in any jurisdiction in which it is
presented" (§ 62-5-504). And because a South Carolina health care power of attorney
"is a durable power of attorney" (§ 62-5-502), the state's Uniform Power of Attorney
Act — which governs powers of attorney validly executed under another state's law —
supplies the framework for honoring an out-of-state document here.

What trips people up

• You must use the statutory form. Unlike states where any clear writing works,
  South Carolina requires the document to be "substantially in the form" at
  § 62-5-504 (§ 62-5-503(a)(1)). A homemade form that omits the required notice and
  witness language risks rejection.
• No notary is required — two qualified witnesses are. People often assume a
  notary is essential. The core requirement is two witnesses (§ 62-5-503(a)(3)); a
  notary is optional (and part of a separate safe harbor, § 62-5-517).
• Your family cannot witness. South Carolina disqualifies your spouse, children,
  grandchildren, parents, siblings, and their spouses and descendants — plus your
  heirs, your agent, and your doctor — from witnessing (§ 62-5-504). Line up two
  disinterested, unrelated adults.
• Pregnancy overrides a withdraw-treatment instruction. If you are pregnant,
  life-sustaining procedures cannot be withheld or withdrawn under the health care POA
  for the duration of the pregnancy (§ 62-5-507).
• Divorce shifts authority to your backup, not to no one. A divorced or separated
  spouse-agent is replaced by your named successor agent (§ 62-5-511) — so naming a
  successor matters if your agent is your spouse.

Common questions

Does a South Carolina health care power of attorney have to be notarized?
No. It must be signed by you (or at your direction) and by two qualified witnesses; a
notary is not required (§ 62-5-503(a)(3)).

Can my spouse or child be a witness?
No. Your spouse, children, parents, siblings, and their descendants and spouses are
all disqualified from witnessing (§ 62-5-504). At least two unrelated, disinterested
adults must sign.

When does my agent's authority begin?
Only during a period of mental incompetence, as the statutory form provides and a
physician certifies (§§ 62-5-504, 62-5-502) — not while you can still make your own
decisions.

What happens to my health care POA if I divorce the spouse I named as agent?
Your successor agent steps in; a divorced or separated spouse-agent is replaced by the
next person you named (§ 62-5-511).

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-501 — definitions; the principal must be 18 or older and
  of sound mind.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-502 — a health care power of attorney is a durable power
  of attorney; certification of mental incompetence.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-503 — requirements: statutory form, signature, two
  witnesses, and who may not serve as agent.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-504 — the mandatory statutory form, including witness
  disqualifications and the "effective upon ... mental incompetence" clause.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-505 — the agent's specific powers (records, placement,
  personnel, visitation).
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-507 — pregnancy: no withholding or withdrawing
  life-sustaining procedures during pregnancy.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-509 — a valid Declaration of a Desire for a Natural Death
  controls where applicable.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-511 — successor agents, including on a spouse-agent's
  divorce or separation.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)
• S.C. Code Ann. § 62-5-512 — revocation methods.
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t62c005.php (accessed 2026-07-16)