A healthcare directive is read by hospital staff under time pressure, and the signature and witness block is the first thing they check. Here is exactly what Nebraska requires when you sign a healthcare directive, and how to run the signing so it holds up.
What Nebraska requires
Nebraska law accepts more than one route when a healthcare directive is signed: two witnesses, or acknowledgment before a notary public who is not your attorney in fact or a successor. The healthcare directive in your download is set up for two witnesses.
You complete one route, not both. Doing the other as well is harmless, but it is not what the statute asks of you.
Witnesses watch you sign (or hear you acknowledge the signature as yours) and then sign themselves, so everyone must be present at the same time.
Statutory detail: Nebraska's statutory form is at Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-3408, with the mandatory contents at 30-3404. Execution is EITHER by at least two adult witnesses, each of whom witnesses the principal's signing and dating or the principal's acknowledgment of the signature and date, OR by acknowledgment before a notary public who is not the attorney in fact or a successor. Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-3405(1)(a), as amended by Laws 2020, LB247, disqualifies as a witness the principal's spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, presumptive heir, known devisee, attending physician, MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT TEAM MEMBER, ROMANTIC OR DATING PARTNER, or attorney in fact, and an employee of a life or health insurance provider for the principal. No more than one witness may be an administrator or employee of a health care provider caring for or treating the principal. 30-3405(2) requires each witness to make the written declaration in substantially the form prescribed in 30-3408 — the statute supplies the wording. Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-3406 separately disqualifies people from serving as ATTORNEY IN FACT. The authority that matters most is not automatic: under 30-3418(2) the attorney in fact may not consent to withholding or withdrawing a life-sustaining procedure or artificially administered nutrition or hydration unless (a) the principal is suffering from a terminal condition or is in a persistent vegetative state AND (b) the document explicitly grants that authority, or the principal's intent is established by clear and convincing evidence. 30-3418(3) separately denies the attorney in fact any authority to withhold routine care necessary to maintain patient comfort, or the usual and typical provision of nutrition and hydration.
- Witnesses: 2
- Notary: not required
Step-by-step signing checklist
Follow the steps in order, and sign nothing until everyone who needs to be present is in the room.
- Print and review the final PDF: Print the final version single-sided and read every page. Confirm the names, dates, and the people you appointed before anyone signs — a correction after signing means re-signing.
- Arrange two witnesses: Ask two witnesses to be with you at the same time and place. Choose adults who receive nothing under the document, and ask each to bring photo ID.
- Sign in front of everyone: Sign and date where the healthcare directive indicates, with two witnesses watching. Do not sign ahead of time.
- Have the witnesses sign: Each witness signs the attestation section while you and the other witness watch, then prints their name and address by hand.
- Store the original and hand out copies: Keep the signed original somewhere safe and fireproof, tell the people you appointed where it is, and give them copies. Never write changes on the signed original — sign a corrected version instead.
Mistakes that undo a valid document
Most signing failures are procedural, not substantive — the document was fine and the ceremony was not.
- Signing before the witnesses or notary arrive, then asking them to sign later.
- Witnesses who sign at different times or out of each other's sight.
- Using someone who benefits under the document as a witness — it invites a challenge and, in some states, costs them their gift.
- Skipping a page, an initial line, or the date.
- Writing changes by hand on the signed original.
- Losing the original; a photocopy is often not enough.
After signing
The original is the document. Store it where it will survive a fire and a move, and make sure the people you appointed can find it without you.
Revisit the healthcare directive when your family, your finances, or the people you appointed change. A new version is signed the same way; the old one should be destroyed once the new one is complete.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many witnesses does a Nebraska healthcare directive need?
Two, on the route your document uses. They must be present at the same time, watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge the signature, before they sign themselves. Nebraska also accepts acknowledgment before a notary public who is not your attorney in fact or a successor instead of the witnesses.
Does a Nebraska healthcare directive have to be notarized?
Not on the route your document uses, which relies on the witnesses instead — but Nebraska accepts acknowledgment before a notary public who is not your attorney in fact or a successor as an alternative to them, and either satisfies the statute. Nebraska's statutory form is at Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-3408, with the mandatory contents at 30-3404. Execution is EITHER by at least two adult witnesses, each of whom witnesses the principal's signing and dating or the principal's acknowledgment of the signature and date, OR by acknowledgment before a notary public who is not the attorney in fact or a successor. Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-3405(1)(a), as amended by Laws 2020, LB247, disqualifies as a witness the principal's spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, presumptive heir, known devisee, attending physician, MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT TEAM MEMBER, ROMANTIC OR DATING PARTNER, or attorney in fact, and an employee of a life or health insurance provider for the principal. No more than one witness may be an administrator or employee of a health care provider caring for or treating the principal. 30-3405(2) requires each witness to make the written declaration in substantially the form prescribed in 30-3408 — the statute supplies the wording. Neb. Rev. Stat. 30-3406 separately disqualifies people from serving as ATTORNEY IN FACT. The authority that matters most is not automatic: under 30-3418(2) the attorney in fact may not consent to withholding or withdrawing a life-sustaining procedure or artificially administered nutrition or hydration unless (a) the principal is suffering from a terminal condition or is in a persistent vegetative state AND (b) the document explicitly grants that authority, or the principal's intent is established by clear and convincing evidence. 30-3418(3) separately denies the attorney in fact any authority to withhold routine care necessary to maintain patient comfort, or the usual and typical provision of nutrition and hydration.
Do the witnesses need to read the document?
Generally no. A witness attests that you signed willingly and appeared to know what you were doing — not to the contents. They need to see you sign, or hear you say the signature is yours.
What should I do with the signed original?
Keep it somewhere safe and fireproof, tell the people you appointed exactly where it is, and give them copies. If anything needs to change later, sign a corrected version rather than marking up the original.