HB 349 North Carolina House · 2025-2026 Session

Modify Health Care Powers of Attorney/Advance Directives.

HB 349 updates North Carolina's requirements for healthcare powers of attorney (POA) and advance health care directives (like living wills). It clarifies witness and notary rules to prevent conflicts of interest (e.g., prohibiting facility staff from witnessing), standardizes forms for easier use, and allows electronic filing of directives with the Secretary of State’s registry. The bill directly affects residents planning ahead for medical decisions, ensuring their chosen agents or instructions are legally recognized. Key changes include revised witness eligibility criteria, simplified form language, and a new online filing option to improve accessibility. The bill does not alter medical care standards but streamlines the legal process for end-of-life planning.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare ✓ Technology

Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Jun 2026

House Passage

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Jun 2026

Governor

Introduced Mar 10, 2025 Last action Jun 25, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

Edition 3 → Edition 4 · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was updated to reflect its adoption by the Senate Judiciary Committee and revised the short title to focus on modifying health care powers of attorney rather than requiring specific nursing choices. Substantively, the bill reorganized the statutory sections to define 'qualified witnesses' for health care powers of attorney, clarifying who can legally witness the document and establishing specific disqualifications (such as family members or employees) to prevent conflicts of interest.

Scope change

The bill's scope shifted from a broad mandate including nursing service provider choice to a focused update on health care power of attorney requirements and electronic filing authorization.

REQUIREMENT

Revised the statutory definition of a 'qualified witness' to explicitly list criteria for who may witness a health care power of attorney, including disqualifications based on family relationships and employment ties to the principal or their medical providers.

Added a new section defining the qualifications and disqualifications for witnesses executing a health care power of attorney.

TECHNICAL

Updated the bill header to include the Senate Judiciary Committee adoption date and changed the short title to better reflect the legislative focus on modifying health care powers of attorney.

SCOPE

Removed language regarding parent choice in nursing service providers required by Individualized Education Programs (IEP), narrowing the bill's scope to health care directives.

Floor votes · Senate Jun 23, 2026 · House Apr 15, 2025

How they voted

44–0

Passed · 6 other

Total votes 50

Jun 23, 2026

D Democratic19

17 Yea 2

89% Yea

R Republican31

27 Yea 4

87% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 25, 2026

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Jun 23, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

upper

Jun 22, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav

upper

Jun 17, 2026

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Jun 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Com Substitute Adopted

upper

Jun 17, 2026

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

upper

May 22, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Judiciary

upper

May 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Com Substitute Adopted

upper

May 22, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

upper

May 19, 2025

Committee

Re-ref to Health Care. If fav, re-ref to Judiciary. If fav, re-ref to Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Apr 16, 2025

Committee

Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate

upper

Apr 15, 2025

Lower · Passed

Passed 3rd Reading

lower

Apr 10, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Apr 8, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Committee

Re-ref Com On Judiciary 2

lower

Mar 25, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reptd Fav Com Substitute

lower

Mar 11, 2025

Committee

Ref to the Com on Health, if favorable, Judiciary 2, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House

lower

Mar 10, 2025

Introduced

Filed

lower

3 primary · 12 co-sponsors