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The three documents
If a stroke happened tomorrow, who could legally pay your parent's mortgage, talk to their doctors, or say what they would have wanted? Without these papers, the answer often goes through a court and not the family. They only work if they are signed while your person is still legally able to sign.
What the three documents are
- Durable power of attorney (for money). The American Bar Association (ABA) describes a power of attorney as a legal paper that gives one or more people the power to act for you as your "agent." The power can be narrow or broad. It can start right away or only under certain conditions. "Durable" means it stays good once it is signed, until you die or cancel it. It does not have to be renewed.[1]
- Health care proxy (or health care power of attorney). In the ABA's words, you "appoint a person and grant to him or her the authority to make medical decisions for you in the event you are unable to express your preferences."[2] Doctors need one named person to decide. Without one, when two children who both love their parent disagree, nothing settles it.
- Advance directive / living will. The ABA says: "A living will is your written expression of how you want to be treated in certain medical circumstances."[2] The National Institute on Aging's checklist covers this along with the rest of getting your affairs in order.[4]
The names change from state to state, and that really does confuse people. The ABA notes that all fifty states let you do both things: say what you want if you are dying or badly hurt, and name someone to speak for you. But depending on the state, these are called living wills, medical directives, health care proxies or advance health care directives. Some states have one official form. Others let you write your own.[2]
Where the free forms are
CaringInfo, a nonprofit run by hospice and comfort-care groups, offers free advance directives with instructions for every state and DC as PDF files.[3] caringinfo.org
AARP links to free forms you can print for all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, with instructions at each link.[5] aarp.org
Read the instructions. Don't just sign. CaringInfo's own warning is that "the states vary in their requirements for witnesses, notarization and other specifics so review the form and its instructions carefully." It also says the forms need to be printed so they can be witnessed, or stamped by a notary if the state requires it.[3] The ABA adds that these papers generally need at least two adult witnesses. There are limits on who can be a witness, based on who stands to inherit and who is family. Some lawyers suggest a notary stamp as well.[2]
An earlier version of this page gave attorney prices: about $300 for a financial power of attorney and about $1,000 for a full set, from a 2026 survey of 909 law firms. That came from a company that sells legal forms, and we could not open or check the survey, so the numbers are gone. Here is what is fair to say. Fees differ by state, by how complex things are, and by whether the set includes a will or trust. Ask for the work and the fee in writing. When a lot of money, a home, or Medicaid timing is involved, families generally use an elder-law attorney. That talk overlaps with the five-year window.
What about using a form in another state? The ABA says you do not need extra papers just because you might take a vacation in another state. But if you live a lot of the time in more than one state, think about having papers made in each. CaringInfo notes that some states honor another state's advance directive, some do if it is like their own law, and some have no answer to the question.[2][3]
What happens without them
The ABA says: if you can no longer decide for yourself and have no power of attorney, "it may become necessary for a court to appoint one or more people to act for you." These people are called guardians or conservators. It happens in open court, and you cannot choose who it is.[1]
That is the honest version. An earlier draft of this page said the process costs several thousand dollars when no one fights it, takes months, is permanent, and takes away rights a judge does not easily give back. Some of that is often true. None of it had a source, and all of it differs by state, so we took it out. To learn what it looks like where you live, ask a local elder-law attorney or the probate court itself.
The point holds without the drama: these papers keep the decision with the people your parent chose.
POLST — a different thing, for different people
A POLST is a set of portable medical orders. (Some states call it MOLST, MOST or POST.) It is a medical order signed by a clinician. It is not a legal paper you write yourself. National POLST draws the line clearly. All adults should have an advance directive. A POLST form is for anyone, at any age, who is very sick or frail. For a healthy person, an advance directive is the better tool.[6]
The practical difference: emergency crews are trained to look for a POLST form. It tells them if the patient wants CPR and if they want to go to the hospital. Crews cannot act on an advance directive in the same way. For someone very sick, National POLST says it is best to have both, and to check that the two agree.[6] Which form your state uses, and who can get one, is a question for the person's doctor.
What only local people can tell you
Which forms your state uses, how they must be signed, and whether you need an attorney are all local questions.
Who to ask: your Area Agency on Aging, since many offer free or low-cost legal help for people 60 and over under the Older Americans Act; an elder-law attorney for anything involving money, property or Medicaid timing; and the person's doctor about POLST.
What to ask them:
- Does our Area Agency on Aging have a legal help program that does these papers for free?
- What are this state's rules on witnesses and notaries for each paper? Who is not allowed to be a witness?
- Should the power of attorney start now, or only when the person can no longer decide for themselves? How is that judged here?
- Is there anything in our situation that makes it safer to have an attorney write the papers than to use a free form? For example, property in another state, a blended family, or early signs of dementia.
- Does this state use POLST, MOLST, MOST or POST? Could my person get one?
Free local help. Your Area Agency on Aging will talk through your choices with you for free. Find yours through the federal Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov (run by the Administration for Community Living).[7] To learn about the four kinds of local helpers and what each one does, see Who helps me locally.
Quick answers
What legal documents does an elderly parent need?
Three. A durable power of attorney for money matters. A health care proxy, also called a health care power of attorney, for medical decisions. And an advance directive, also called a living will, that states what treatment they want. A group called National POLST adds that all adults should have an advance directive, and that a POLST form is for anyone, at any age, who is very sick or frail. All of these must be signed while the person is still legally able to decide for themselves. State law controls what each paper does and how it must be signed. [1, 2, 4]
Where do I get the forms, and are they free?
Free state forms are easy to find. CaringInfo, a nonprofit run by hospice and comfort-care groups, offers free advance directives with instructions for every state and DC as PDF files. AARP links to free forms you can print for all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Read the instructions that come with the form. CaringInfo warns that states have different rules for witnesses, notaries and other details. The American Bar Association (ABA) says these papers generally need at least two adult witnesses, with limits on who can be one. [3, 5, 2]
What happens if a parent becomes incapacitated without a power of attorney?
The ABA puts it this way: if you can no longer decide for yourself and have no power of attorney, "it may become necessary for a court to appoint one or more people to act for you." That person is called a guardian or conservator. It happens in open court, and you do not get to choose who it is. The steps, the terms and the cost differ by state. An earlier version of this page gave dollar amounts and timelines. We could not find a source for those, so they are gone. [1]
Sources and what they support
Sources checked 2026-09-19 using AI-assisted editorial research. This is a source check, not legal advice.
- American Bar Association, power of attorney. Supports the description of a power of attorney as an instrument appointing an agent with narrow or broad, immediate or conditional authority; that modern ones are durable and remain valid until death or revocation; the quoted consequence of having none when incapacitated, including the court-appointed guardian or conservator and the public proceeding in which you do not choose your representative; that a power of attorney is accepted in all states while rules and requirements differ; and that the law of the state where you reside when you sign generally governs the agent's powers. General consumer information from a bar association, not the law of your state, and it does not give the cost, duration or consequences of a guardianship proceeding anywhere.
- American Bar Association, living wills, health care proxies and advance directives. Supports the quoted definitions of a living will and a health care proxy; that all fifty states permit both expressing treatment wishes and appointing someone to speak for you; the varying names for these documents; that some states have a statutory form while others allow your own drafting; the general requirement of at least two adult witnesses with restrictions based on inheritance interests and family relationships; that some lawyers also recommend notarisation; and the multi-state advice. General information, not state law, and witness rules must be confirmed against your own state's form.
- CaringInfo, advance directives by state. Supports that free advance directives and instructions are published for each state and DC as PDFs, the quoted warning that states vary in their requirements for witnesses and notarization, the instruction to print them for witnessing or notarisation, and the account of how states treat out-of-state directives. CaringInfo does not describe these as official state-issued forms and recommends contacting an attorney for legal questions, so treat them as usable forms to check against your state's requirements rather than as pre-approved documents.
- National Institute on Aging, getting your affairs in order. Supports the document list — will, durable power of attorney for finances, living trust, living will, durable power of attorney for health care — and the advice to keep them in one place, tell someone trusted where they are, and review them yearly and after any major change. A checklist for planning, not legal authority on what a document does in your state.
- AARP, free printable advance directives. Supports that free printable forms are linked for all 50 states, DC, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, that states have specific forms so clinicians can recognise the document's purpose, and that instructions accompany each link. This overview page does not itself set out witnessing or notarisation rules; those are in the individual state forms.
- National POLST, POLST and advance directives. Supports that an advance directive is a legal document and a POLST form is a medical order; that all adults should have an advance directive while POLST is for anyone of any age who is seriously ill or frail; that an advance directive is the preferred tool for a healthy person; that emergency responders are trained to look for a POLST and that it tells them about CPR and hospital transfer while they cannot act on an advance directive the same way; and the recommendation that seriously ill patients have both, aligned. Terminology, eligibility and implementation vary by state, and a POLST is completed with a clinician rather than filled in at home.
- Administration for Community Living, Eldercare Locator. Supports the referral route to a local Area Agency on Aging. Whether a given agency runs a legal-assistance program, and who qualifies, varies locally.
Removed in this pass, for want of a source we could check: the ~$300 and ~$1,000 attorney medians from a commercial legal-forms survey; the claim that advance directive forms are free from "every state" in the sense of being state-issued; and the guardianship cost, speed, publicity and permanent-loss-of-rights claims. The ABA's own statement that a court appointment may become necessary has replaced them.