Willful destruction, concealment, etc., of declaration or revocation; penalties
Va. Code Ann. § 54.1-2989
in effectA. Any person who willfully (i) conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another without the declarant's or patient's consent or the consent of the person authorized to consent for the patient; (ii) falsifies or forges the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another; or (iii) falsifies or forges a revocation of the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another shall be guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. If such action causes life-prolonging procedures to be utilized in contravention of the previously expressed intent of the patient or a Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order, the person committing such action shall be guilty of a Class 6 felony.
B. Any person who willfully (i) conceals, cancels, defaces, obliterates, or damages the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another without the declarant's or patient's consent or the consent of the person authorized to consent for the patient, (ii) falsifies or forges the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another, (iii) falsifies or forges a revocation of the advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order of another, or (iv) conceals or withholds personal knowledge of the revocation of an advance directive or Durable Do Not Resuscitate Order, with the intent to cause a withholding or withdrawal of life-prolonging procedures, contrary to the wishes of the declarant or a patient, and thereby, because of such act, directly causes life-prolonging procedures to be withheld or withdrawn and death to be hastened, shall be guilty of a Class 2 felony.
1983, c. 532, § 54-325.8:9; 1988, c. 765; 1992, cc. 412, 748, 772; 1998, cc. 803 , 854 ; 1999, c. 814 ; 2009, cc. 211 , 268 .
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/54.1-2989/Fetched: 10/16/2026