Legacy Act Launches 4-Year Study for Free, Secure National System to Store Living Wills and Advance Directives

The “Legacy Act of 2025” isn’t changing any laws today, but it sets the wheels in motion for a potentially massive upgrade to how we handle critical end-of-life documents. Essentially, this bill mandates that the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) try to contract with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a four-year study. The goal of this study is to figure out the best way to create and maintain a national, secure, and confidential system for storing “last wish documents”—things like living wills, advance directives, healthcare proxies, and powers of attorney. Crucially, the system they design must be free for individuals to use, allowing only an “authorized agent” to retrieve the documents when needed.

The Problem This Study Aims to Solve

If you’ve ever filled out an advance directive, you know the drill: you sign it, maybe get it notarized, and then you stick it in a file cabinet, give copies to your doctor, and hope someone remembers where it is when the time comes. If you’re traveling or in an emergency room far from home, that document might as well be on the moon. This bill is trying to fix that logistical nightmare. By proposing a study for a national digital repository, the government is looking for a way to ensure that your medical wishes—the ones you took the time to write down—are instantly accessible to the right people (your authorized agent) when the situation demands it.

What “Last Wish Documents” Actually Mean for You

The bill defines “last wish document” broadly, including living wills, organ donor registrations, and healthcare powers of attorney. Think about your life: if you’re suddenly incapacitated, who is allowed to make decisions about your care or manage your finances? These documents are the blueprint. If they’re locked in a safe deposit box or a home office, they can cause delays in critical care, which is the last thing anyone wants. The study’s mandate is to design a system that is both confidential—meaning your private information stays private—and secure, protecting it from unauthorized access, which is a significant technical challenge in itself.

The Timeline and the Cost

This isn't an overnight fix; it's a long-term plan. The study itself has clear deadlines: the National Academies must report on the status of their work within two years of the Act becoming law, and submit the final results—the blueprint for the national system—four years after enactment. This means we won't see any actual system implementation until after 2029, assuming the study recommends moving forward. While the study itself will be paid for by taxpayer funds, the mandate is clear: the resulting storage service must be provided at no cost to the individual user. This is a key provision for ensuring accessibility, as it removes the financial barrier to ensuring your end-of-life wishes are known and honored.