{"data":{"id":"us-dc/d.c.-code-7-622","jurisdiction":"us-dc","citation":"D.C. Code § 7-622","heading":"Declaration — Execution; form.","body":"(a)\nAny persons 18 years of age or older may execute a declaration directing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining procedures from themselves should they be in a terminal condition. The declaration made pursuant to this subchapter shall be:\n(1)\nIn writing;\n(2)\nSigned by the person making the declaration or by another person in the declarant’s presence at the declarant’s express direction;\n(3)\nDated; and\n(4)\nSigned in the presence of 2 or more witnesses at least 18 years of age. In addition, a witness shall not be:\n(A)\nThe person who signed the declaration on behalf of and at the direction of the declarant;\n(B)\nRelated to the declarant by blood, marriage, or domestic partnership;\n(C)\nEntitled to any portion of the estate of the declarant according to the laws of intestate succession of the District of Columbia or under any will of the declarant or codicil thereto;\n(D)\nDirectly financially responsible for declarant’s medical care; or\n(E)\nThe attending physician, an employee of the attending physician, or an employee of the health facility in which the declarant is a patient.\n\n(b)\nIt shall be the responsibility of the declarant to provide for notification to his or her attending physician of the existence of the declaration. An attending physician, when presented with the declaration, shall make the declaration or a copy of the declaration a part of the declarant’s medical records.\n\n(c)\nWitness","path":["Title 7. Human Health Care and Safety.","Chapter 6. Death.","Subchapter II. Natural Death."],"source_url":"https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/7-622","current_through":"2026-08-20 (D.C. Law 26-175)","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-08-29T05:44:07Z","sha256":"437c56ca1b6b38cdccef16635f6d10ae1e499aaf85e416f23321331091a196e3","source_id":"us-dc","stale":false,"prev":"us-dc/d.c.-code-7-621","next":"us-dc/d.c.-code-7-623"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}