West Virginia: Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements

West Virginia uses the West Virginia Health Care Decisions Act, W. Va. Code
§§ 16-30-1 to -25. A person may sign a standalone medical power of attorney or a
combined medical power of attorney and living will. The statute supplies forms,
but their use is optional; the execution formalities are mandatory.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

The medical power of attorney appoints one representative and may name a
successor. The representative can make health-care decisions when the principal
cannot. Section 16-30-4(h) supplies an optional form, but another form can include
additional directions consistent with the Act.

Who can sign

Any competent adult may execute the document. For this Act, “adult” includes a
person age 18 or older, a legally emancipated minor, or a “mature minor” whose
capacity has been determined by an authorized clinician (§ 16-30-3). The principal
normally signs. If physically unable, another person may sign in the principal's
presence and at the principal's express direction (§ 16-30-4(a)).

Witnesses and notary

West Virginia requires both. The document must be signed in the presence of
at least two witnesses age 18 or older. Those witnesses sign and attest, and their
“signatures and attestations shall be acknowledged before a notary public”
(§ 16-30-4(a)). Notarization is not an alternative to witnesses.

Who cannot witness or serve

A witness cannot be the person who signed for a physically unable principal, a
blood or marriage relative, a will beneficiary, someone directly responsible for
the principal's medical bills, the attending physician, the representative, or the
successor (§ 16-30-4(b)). An unaware will beneficiary does not invalidate the
document solely because of that unknown status.

The representative cannot be the treating provider or the facility operator.
Unrelated employees of the treating provider or facility operator are also barred
(§ 16-30-4(c)).

When the representative can act

Authority springs into effect when incapacity is determined under § 16-30-7 and
ends when capacity returns (§ 16-30-6(d)). The determination may be made after a
personal examination by an attending or other physician, qualified psychologist,
physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse. It must be recorded
contemporaneously with the basis, cause, nature, and expected duration if known
(§ 16-30-7(a)-(b)).

Powers and limits

The representative may release medical records and make “any and all health care
decisions” unless the document clearly limits the grant (§ 16-30-6(c)). That scope
includes medical and surgical treatment, life-prolonging intervention,
psychiatric treatment, hospitalization, nursing-home care, home health care, and
organ or tissue donation (§ 16-30-3).

Known wishes, religious and moral beliefs, and values control. If they cannot be
ascertained with reasonable diligence, the representative uses the person's best
interests (§ 16-30-9). Express written directions take priority when they conflict
with the representative's decision (§ 16-30-5(b)).

How to revoke

The principal may revoke by destroying the document, by a signed and dated
written revocation delivered to the attending physician, or orally before an
adult witness who signs and dates a confirmation. An oral revocation becomes
effective when communicated to the attending physician (§ 16-30-18(a)).

A final divorce decree automatically revokes a former spouse as representative
or successor (§ 16-30-18(c)). People are not liable for failing to act on a
revocation they do not actually know about (§ 16-30-18(b)), so delivery matters.

Out-of-state directives

West Virginia recognizes a medical power of attorney executed elsewhere if it
complies either with West Virginia law or with the law of the state where it was
executed (§ 16-30-21).

What trips people up

• The notary is not optional. Two witnesses alone are insufficient under the
  statute; their signatures and attestations must also be acknowledged before a
  notary (§ 16-30-4(a)).
• The witness list excludes relatives and heirs. A spouse or other blood or
  marriage relative cannot witness, and neither can a known will beneficiary or
  the attending physician (§ 16-30-4(b)).
• An oral revocation still needs a record and delivery. It must be expressed
  before an adult witness who signs a dated confirmation, then communicated to
  the attending physician (§ 16-30-18(a)(3)).

Common questions

Do I need both witnesses and a notary?
Yes. Use at least two qualified adult witnesses, and have their signatures and
attestations acknowledged before a notary (§ 16-30-4(a)).

Can a family member witness?
No. A witness may not be related to the principal by blood or marriage
(§ 16-30-4(b)(2)).

Who decides whether I lack capacity?
An authorized physician, qualified psychologist, physician assistant, or advanced
practice registered nurse who personally examines you and records the basis for
the determination (§ 16-30-7).

Will a document signed in another state work?
Yes, if it complied with that state's law or with West Virginia law
(§ 16-30-21).

Statutes and sources

• W. Va. Code § 16-30-3 — adult, mature-minor, incapacity, health-care-decision,
  and representative definitions.
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-3/ (accessed 2026-07-16)
• W. Va. Code § 16-30-4 — signing, witnesses, notarization, witness and agent
  bars, notification duty, and optional forms.
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-4/ (accessed 2026-07-16)
• W. Va. Code §§ 16-30-6 and 16-30-7 — authority, springing effect, and the
  incapacity determination.
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-6/ and
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-7/ (accessed 2026-07-16)
• W. Va. Code § 16-30-9 — decision standard.
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-9/ (accessed 2026-07-16)
• W. Va. Code § 16-30-18 — revocation and former-spouse rule.
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-18/ (accessed 2026-07-16)
• W. Va. Code § 16-30-21 — reciprocity.
  https://code.wvlegislature.gov/16-30-21/ (accessed 2026-07-16)