---
type: Authority
title: RSMo §459.015 (Missouri Death-Prolonging Procedures Declaration)
description: The Missouri statute authorizing a competent person to execute a declaration directing that death-prolonging procedures be withheld or withdrawn; the living-will side of a Missouri healthcare plan.
resource: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=459.015
tags: [healthcare-directive, living-will, advance-directive, missouri]
timestamp: 2026-06-22
jurisdiction: Missouri
author: Patrick Nolan
authority_type: statute
citation: RSMo §459.015
---

# Summary

RSMo §459.015 lets any competent person execute a declaration directing that death-prolonging procedures be withheld or withdrawn. It is the Missouri living-will declaration; it states the person's own wishes on life-sustaining treatment, and it works alongside, not in place of, a healthcare power of attorney (RSMo §404.800) that names an agent to decide.

# Operative text

Paraphrased from the statute, verified against the official source: a declaration under sections 459.010 to 459.055 must be in writing, signed by the declarant (or by another in the declarant's presence and at their express direction), dated, and witnessed as the statute requires. Read the full section at the official source linked above.

# Decision rule

Because §459.015 gives your own stated wishes legal effect, pair a death-prolonging-procedures declaration with a healthcare power of attorney (§404.800): the declaration states what you want, and the agent speaks for you on everything the declaration does not cover.

# Related

- [Powers of Attorney](/okf/estate-planning/powers-of-attorney.md)
- [The Six Core Documents](/okf/estate-planning/core-documents.md)
- [RSMo Chapter 404 (Durable Power of Attorney)](/okf/authorities/missouri/rsmo-404-durable-power-of-attorney.md)
- Official source: https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=459.015