If you want to donate your organs after death, simply telling someone may not be enough.
The best approach is to make your wishes clear in several ways: register as an organ donor, include appropriate instructions in your estate planning documents, and talk with the people who may be involved in carrying out your wishes.1
Organ donation is highly regulated. Nearly every state has adopted some form of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, which governs who can make an anatomical gift and how that gift must be documented.
Taking the right steps now can help make sure your intentions are known when decisions may need to be made very quickly.
What Can You Donate?
Organ and tissue donation can help far more people than many realize.2 A single donor may be able to provide organs or tissue benefiting dozens of recipients.3
Potential donations may include:
- kidneys
- liver
- heart
- lungs
- pancreas
- corneas
- bone
- skin
- tendons
- bone marrow
- stem cells
Certain specialized transplants may also involve hands, feet, or other vascularized composite tissue.
Not every potential donor will be eligible to donate every organ or tissue. Medical professionals evaluate each donor individually, and timing can be critical because some donations must occur soon after death.
What About Donating Your Body to Science?
Whole-body donation is different from organ and tissue donation.
Some people choose to donate their body to a medical school, anatomical board, or scientific research program. Because whole-body donation may conflict with organ or tissue donation, it is important to contact the institution you are considering and confirm its specific requirements.
If this is your goal, identify the organization in advance and document your wishes clearly. Do not assume that simply including a statement in your will will be enough to complete the donation process.
Register as an Organ Donor
The most important practical step is to register as an organ donor.
You can generally do this in one of two ways:
- register through your state’s organ donor registry
- register through your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles when obtaining or renewing your driver’s license or identification card
Registration creates a formal record of your intent and can make the donation process much easier for medical professionals and your family.
Include Your Wishes in Your Estate Planning Documents
You should also consider including your organ donation wishes in appropriate healthcare and estate planning documents.
Depending on your state, those documents may include:
- a healthcare directive
- a living will or advance directive
- an anatomical gift authorization
- other healthcare planning documents
A will should not be your only method of documenting organ donation wishes. Wills are often reviewed after the critical window for organ donation has already passed.
Healthcare documents are more useful because they are intended to be available when medical decisions are being made.
Talk to Your Healthcare Agent and Family
Legal documents are important, but communication matters too.
Tell your loved ones—especially the person you have named as your healthcare agent—that you want to be an organ donor.
This conversation can prevent confusion during an emotional moment and help your family provide medical professionals with the information they need.
In many states, a valid donor registration or legally recognized anatomical gift is legally binding and generally cannot simply be overridden by family members.
Even so, having your family understand your wishes ahead of time can make the process smoother and reduce uncertainty.
What Happens If You Never Document Your Wishes?
If you do not register as an organ donor or otherwise document your wishes, state law may determine who is authorized to make the decision after your death.
Under versions of the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, states generally establish an order of priority for who may consent on your behalf. That list may begin with a spouse, followed by adult children, parents, and other relatives.
In other words, without clear instructions, someone else may ultimately decide whether donation occurs.
That may lead to the result you would have wanted—or it may not.
Make Your Wishes Easy to Follow
Organ donation decisions can arise quickly. The best estate planning does not leave your loved ones searching through documents or guessing about what you wanted.
If organ or tissue donation is important to you:
- register with your state donor registry
- confirm your DMV donor designation
- document your wishes in appropriate healthcare directives
- tell your healthcare agent
- talk with your family
- keep your estate planning and healthcare documents accessible
Taking these steps gives your loved ones clarity and makes it far more likely that your wishes can be carried out.
If you are reviewing your healthcare directives, powers of attorney, or other estate planning documents, we can help you make sure your end-of-life wishes are clearly documented and coordinated with the rest of your estate plan.
- Anatomical Gift Act, Unif. L. Comm’n, https://www.uniformlaws.org/committees/community-home?CommunityKey=015e18ad-4806-4dff-b011-8e1ebc0d1d0f. ↩︎
- How Many People are Organ Donors?, Donor All. (June 16, 2025), https://www.donoralliance.org/newsroom/donation-essentials/how-many-people-are-organ-donors. ↩︎
- Vascular Composite Allograft: What is it?, Donor All. (Oct. 14, 2016), https://www.donoralliance.org/newsroom/donation-essentials/vascular-composite-allograft-what-is-it. ↩︎
