How do I create an advance healthcare directive in Alabama?

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1. Types Recognized   Alabama recognizes under the Alabama Natural Death Act (Ala. Code §§ 22-8A-1 to 22-8A-14): (a) Advance Directive for Health Care — combined Living Will and Health Care Proxy form, (b) POST (Physician Order for Scope of Treatment, Ala. Code § 22-8A-13), and (c) DNR Order — Portable Physician DNR (PPDNR).    2. Statutory Form   Ala. Code § 22-8A-4(b) contains the model Advance Directive for Health Care form, including separate sections for living-will instructions and healthcare proxy designation. Use of the statutory form is strongly recommended.    3. Execution Formalities   Principal must be 19+ (Alabama age of majority) and of sound mind. Signed by declarant in the presence of TWO adult witnesses who are not: related by blood/marriage, entitled to estate, directly financially responsible for care, attending physician/employee, employee of facility, or the appointed proxy (Ala. Code § 22-8A-4(c)). NO notary required.    4. Healthcare Proxy Authority   Under Ala. Code § 22-8A-6, the proxy may make any healthcare decision the principal could make, including consent to/refusal of life-sustaining treatment and artificial nutrition/hydration, subject to instructions in the directive. Authority begins when attending physician and one other physician certify incapacity (§ 22-8A-7).    5. Pregnancy Clauses   Ala. Code § 22-8A-4(d): an advance directive is INEFFECTIVE if the patient is known to be pregnant as long as the fetus could develop to live birth with continued treatment. This pregnancy exclusion remains in force post-Dobbs.    6. Reciprocity   Ala. Code § 22-8A-11 honors advance directives validly executed in another state.    7. POST/DNR   Alabama POST (Ala. Code § 22-8A-13) is a physician-signed bright-pink order portable across care settings. PPDNR (Portable Physician DNR) is also recognized.    8. Revocation   Under Ala. Code § 22-8A-5, the directive may be revoked at any time, regardless of mental state, by: physical destruction, written revocation, oral expression of intent communicated to attending physician.    9. Default Surrogate   Ala. Code § 22-8A-11 provides surrogate priority for terminally ill or permanently unconscious patients without a directive: judicially appointed guardian > spouse > adult child > parent > adult sibling > any other relative > attending physician with ethics consultation.  This is legal information, not legal advice.