Arkansas Advance Healthcare Directives
Make Your Wishes Clear Before Someone Else Has to Guess
If an accident, illness, surgery, or medical emergency left you unable to speak, would your family know what you wanted?
Would they know who should make decisions for you? Would that person be able to speak with your doctors and receive the medical information needed to help? Would your healthcare team have clear guidance—or would the people caring for you be left trying to make deeply personal decisions without knowing what you would choose?
Advance healthcare directives help you answer those questions now.
They allow you to name someone you trust, communicate the care you would or would not want, and give the people helping you a clearer path forward. Completing them protects your voice, but it also gives something valuable to your family, caregivers, and healthcare professionals: the reassurance of knowing they are following your wishes instead of carrying the burden of guessing.
This planning is not only for older adults or people with serious illnesses. Every adult—including a young adult who has just turned 18—should consider having these documents. An emergency can happen at any age, and parents do not automatically keep unlimited authority to access an adult child’s medical information or make every healthcare decision for them.
You do not complete advance directives because you expect the worst. You complete them so the people who love you are prepared to honor your choices if the unexpected happens.
Search by document, topic or service…..
What Are You Trying to Accomplish?
You may already have been told the name of a form. Or you may simply know the problem you need to solve. Use the statements below to identify the document commonly associated with that need.
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The document you are likely looking for is an Appointment of Health Care Agent.
You may also see it called:
Healthcare Power of Attorney
Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
Medical Power of Attorney
Healthcare Proxy
Appointment of Healthcare Representative
This document names the person you want to make healthcare decisions when you cannot make or communicate them yourself. It can also name alternate agents in case your first choice is unavailable.
What it resolves: It answers the question, “Who has authority to speak for me?” Without a clear appointment, family members and healthcare providers may face uncertainty or disagreement about who should make decisions.
Free Arkansas form: Arkansas Department of Health — Healthcare Decision Forms
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The document you are likely looking for is a Living Will or Advance Care Plan.
You may also see it called:
Advance Directive
Declaration Relating to the Use of Life-Sustaining Treatment
Healthcare Directive
Directive to Physicians
This document records your treatment preferences for a future time when you cannot make or communicate healthcare decisions. Depending on the form, it may address life-sustaining treatment, resuscitation, ventilation, artificial nutrition or hydration, comfort care, pain relief, terminal illness, or other personal instructions.
What it resolves: It answers the question, “What care would I choose?” It gives your healthcare agent and medical team guidance and reduces the pressure on loved ones to make those choices without you.
Free Arkansas forms:
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The document you may need is a HIPAA Authorization.
You may also see it called:
HIPAA Release
Authorization to Release Medical Information
Authorization for Disclosure of Health Information
Medical Information Release
Medical Records Authorization
A HIPAA authorization allows the people or organizations you name to receive protected health information under the terms written in the document.
What it resolves: It can help a trusted person receive the information needed to communicate with providers, coordinate care, understand your condition, or assist your healthcare agent.
A HIPAA authorization does not by itself appoint someone to make healthcare decisions. That job belongs to an Appointment of Health Care Agent or healthcare power of attorney.
Free sources:
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You probably need that provider’s Medical Records Release Form or Authorization for Release of Information.
This is different from a general estate-planning HIPAA authorization. Hospitals, clinics, physicians, pharmacies, insurers, and other record custodians often require their own form to release particular records.
What it resolves: It allows you—or an authorized person—to request specified records from a particular healthcare organization.
Contact the provider’s medical-records or health-information-management department. Ask for its current form, identification requirements, fees, delivery options, and proof required from an agent or representative.
For UAMS records, use UAMS — Patients Requesting Their Records.
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Ask a qualified healthcare professional whether an Arkansas POLST is appropriate.
POLST means Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment. It is designed for certain people with serious, life-limiting illness or advanced frailty. It translates current treatment goals into portable medical orders that can travel between healthcare settings.
What it resolves: It helps hospitals, emergency services, hospice, nursing facilities, and other providers follow current medical orders concerning resuscitation and levels of treatment.
POLST is not a general self-help document for every healthy adult, and it does not replace an advance directive.
Official source: Arkansas Department of Health — POLST Forms and Directions
Arkansas Department of Health: 1-800-462-0599
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A Do-Not-Resuscitate Order, commonly called a DNR, is a medical order addressing whether healthcare professionals should attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation under the circumstances covered by the order.
Contact the patient’s physician, hospital, hospice provider, nursing facility, or another qualified healthcare professional. A DNR is not created simply by writing a statement and having it notarized.
A living will, healthcare-agent appointment, POLST, and DNR perform different jobs and are not interchangeable.
Why One Document May Not Be Enough
For many adults, a practical advance-healthcare planning set includes three documents:
Appointment of Health Care Agent — names who can speak for you.
Living Will or Advance Care Plan — explains what care you want.
HIPAA Authorization — helps trusted people obtain the information they need to help.
Completing only one may leave an important question unanswered.
Naming an agent without recording your wishes may leave that person uncertain about what you would choose. Writing a living will without naming an agent may leave no clearly selected person to interpret or communicate those wishes. Naming an agent without appropriate access to information may make it harder for that person to understand your condition and advocate effectively.
The documents work together to create clarity:
Your family knows who you trusted.
Your agent knows what matters to you.
Your healthcare providers receive clearer direction.
The people involved are less likely to disagree or make decisions based on assumptions.
You remain at the center of your healthcare, even when you cannot speak for yourself.
Advance healthcare directives are also an important part of a complete estate plan. A will or trust primarily addresses property and responsibilities after death. Advance directives and powers of attorney protect your choices during your lifetime.
Free Arkansas Advance Directive Forms
You do not have to purchase a form before you can begin. Choose the source that best matches the way you prefer to complete documents.
Best Official Arkansas Source
Arkansas Department of Health — Healthcare Decision Forms
Start here for official Arkansas healthcare-decision forms, including an Advance Care Plan and Appointment of Health Care Agent.
Best Downloadable Arkansas Advance Directive
CaringInfo — Free Arkansas Advance Directive
Use this source for a downloadable Arkansas advance-directive form with instructions. English and Spanish versions are available.
Best Coordinated Self-Help Packet
Triage Cancer — Arkansas Estate Planning Toolkit
Use this Arkansas-specific toolkit when you want several related documents and explanations together. It includes healthcare decision forms, a sample HIPAA authorization, POLST information, a financial power-of-attorney form, and other planning resources.
Best Plain-Language Hospital Forms
UAMS Health — Advance Medical Directives
Use this source for shorter, patient-friendly healthcare power-of-attorney and living-will forms with completion instructions.
Best Guided Online Option
FreeWill — Advance Healthcare Directive and HIPAA Authorization
Use this source if you prefer to answer questions online and generate documents rather than complete a blank PDF. FreeWill is a third-party self-help service, not a government agency or law firm. Review its terms and privacy policy before entering personal or medical information.
How to Complete Your Arkansas Advance Directives
Step 1: Choose the document or complete set that addresses your needs
Use the problem-based guide above to locate the correct document title. Many adults should consider the coordinated three-document set: healthcare agent, living will, and HIPAA authorization.
If you need customized provisions, have complicated family circumstances, spend substantial time in more than one state, already have conflicting documents, or want these forms coordinated with a will, trust, or financial power of attorney, consult a licensed Arkansas attorney.
Step 2: Read every instruction before completing the form
Confirm that the form is intended for Arkansas and review its witness, notarization, and signing instructions. Do not assume that all forms are completed the same way.
Step 3: Have the important conversations
Ask the person you want to name whether they are willing to serve. Explain what matters to you, what quality of life means to you, and what you would want them to consider.
Ask a qualified healthcare professional to explain treatment options you do not understand. A clear document is valuable, but a clear conversation can make it even stronger.
Step 4: Complete the document, but do not sign too early
Fill in the required names, contact information, choices, and instructions. Review the document for blank spaces or inconsistencies.
If the instructions require signing before witnesses or a notary, wait to sign until everyone is together.
Step 5: Arrange the correct signing method
Some Arkansas healthcare forms may allow signing before two qualified witnesses or notarization. The form you choose controls. Do not assume that you need both, and do not assume that every person is eligible to serve as a witness.
Natural State Signature Services can review your completed document for notarial readiness before the appointment—such as whether it contains a notarial certificate, appears complete for signing, and requires witnesses—but NSSS cannot select the form, fill in your decisions, or interpret its legal effect.
Step 6: Share the completed documents
Give copies to the people and organizations that may need them:
Your healthcare agent and alternate agents
Your primary physician and specialists
Your hospital or healthcare system
Your hospice or long-term-care provider, when applicable
Trusted family members or caregivers
Your estate-planning attorney
Keep an accessible paper copy with your important records and consider keeping a secure digital copy. Tell the people involved where the documents can be found.
A document cannot guide your care if no one knows it exists.
Ready to Complete Your Documents?
Once you have chosen and completed your forms, Natural State Signature Services LLC can guide you through the final execution process with clarity, care, and attention to detail.
NSSS is more than a place to obtain a notary stamp. Meredith Evans provides professional document-execution support designed to reduce confusion, prevent avoidable signing errors, and make important documents easier to complete.
Depending on the document and your circumstances, service may be available:
At your home or office
At a hospital, rehabilitation center, assisted-living community, or care facility
Through Remote Online Notarization when legally permitted and accepted by the receiving organization
Through in-person electronic notarization
By appointment during times that are difficult to coordinate with a traditional office
Before your appointment, NSSS can help you confirm that you have:
The document you selected from an appropriate source
A completed but unsigned form when signing must occur at the appointment
Acceptable identification
Any witnesses required by the document
The form’s original signing instructions
Confirmation that the receiving organization accepts the proposed signing method
At the appointment, NSSS can:
Verify the signer’s identity
Confirm willingness and awareness for the notarial act
Administer an oath or take an acknowledgment when requested and authorized
Observe the signing as required
Complete the appropriate notarial certificate
Help the signing proceed in an organized, respectful manner
NSSS does not rush important moments. Whether you are planning ahead at home, helping a young adult prepare for independence, or coordinating documents during a healthcare event, you can expect calm guidance through the signing process.
Your wishes deserve to be known. Your family deserves clarity. Your healthcare team deserves direction. Let NSSS help you complete the documents that make that possible.
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Before You Schedule
Please do not sign the document in advance if the form requires signing in the presence of witnesses or a notary.
Remote Online Notarization is not appropriate or accepted for every healthcare document. A form that requires physical witnesses, wet-ink signatures, a clinician’s participation, or a specialized medical-order process may need a different completion method. NSSS can help identify execution requirements stated on the document, but the document issuer or receiving healthcare organization determines whether it will accept the proposed method.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Every adult should consider one. Accidents, unexpected illnesses, and temporary incapacity can happen at any age. Once a child turns 18, parents may no longer have automatic access to all medical information or authority to make every healthcare decision.
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“Advance directive” is often used as an umbrella term for documents that communicate future healthcare choices. A living will is one type of advance directive. An appointment of healthcare agent is another.
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No. A HIPAA authorization generally permits access to specified health information. Authority to make healthcare decisions normally comes from a healthcare-agent appointment or healthcare power of attorney.
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The answer depends on the form. Some forms may provide a choice between qualified witnesses and notarization. Follow the instructions printed on the exact document you selected. Do not assume every form has identical requirements.
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NSSS can provide links to trusted forms and guide you through eligible signing and notarization procedures. NSSS cannot choose your healthcare agent, decide what treatment instructions you should include, draft legal provisions, complete the document for you, or advise whether a form meets your individual legal needs.
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Sometimes. Eligibility depends on the document, requested notarial act, witness requirements, applicable law, and the receiving organization’s acceptance policy. Contact NSSS before signing so the proposed method can be reviewed.
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Give copies to your healthcare agent, physician, healthcare system, and the trusted people who may need them. Keep the original or an accessible copy with important records, and tell your family where it is stored.
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Review them after major life or health changes, including marriage, divorce, relocation, a new diagnosis, the death or unavailability of an agent, changed treatment preferences, or an updated estate plan.
Important Information
Natural State Signature Services LLC is not a law firm, healthcare provider, document-preparation service, or financial advisor. NSSS does not provide legal, medical, tax, or financial advice.
External resources are provided for educational convenience. A link does not guarantee that a form is current, complete, appropriate for an individual situation, or accepted by every healthcare organization. Forms, laws, medical practices, and recipient policies can change. Confirm the current document, witness qualifications, signing instructions, and acceptance requirements before completion.
For medical guidance, speak with a qualified healthcare professional. For customized documents, document selection, complicated family circumstances, questions about legal capacity, or coordination with a complete estate plan, consult a licensed Arkansas attorney.