Patients & Families

Senate Enrolled Act 204 passed on July 1, 2021. One goal of the legislative change is to give you flexibility in recording your preferences. As a results, Indiana will no longer mandate the use of an official advance directive form.

The sample Indiana advance directives below all meet the new legal requirements and are available here for you to download and use. The Prepare for your Care Advance Directive also meets Indiana’s new legal requirements. It contains additional educational information that may be helpful to you in decision-making. You are encouraged to select the form that works best for you or review the additional websites for other alternatives.

Additional websites that include Indiana-approved advance directive templates:

Prepare for Your Care: An organization that offers free educational videos and sample advance directive forms, and allows you to create a free account to store your advance directive preferences online

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO): An organization that provides educational resources for patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers about advance care planning, how to start a conversation with loved ones about healthcare preferences, and how to seek additional hospice and palliative care support.

Five Wishes: An organization that provides forms that make it easy to discuss advance care planning at any age.

Indiana State Department of Health Advance Directives Resource Center : State government website that provides resources about advance care directives and its laws as it relates to all Hoosiers.

The Indiana POST Program is an advance care planning tool that helps ensure treatment preferences are honored. It is designed for patients with advanced chronic or terminal illness or frailties. Preferences for life sustaining treatments including resuscitation, medical interventions (e.g., comfort care, hospitalization, intubation, mechanical ventilation), antibiotics, and artificial nutrition are documented as medical orders on the POST form. It must be reviewed and signed by a physician, advance practice nurse, or physician assistant to be activated. This form transfers throughout the health care system and the orders are valid in all settings.