Source: https://wearabledocs.com/states/california Anatomical gift act · California # How to Refuse Organ Donation in California In California you can refuse to donate by signing a record, in your will, or, during a terminal illness or injury, by telling at least two adults, one of whom has no interest in the decision; those two must then write down what you said, sign it and date it. If you sign a record yourself, you do not need witnesses. Once you have refused and not taken it back, no one else can donate your body or any part of it. Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7150.30. If you came here to get off the registry ## Is removing the donor designation enough? Taking your name off the organ donor registry is a revocation. So is removing the designation from your driver’s license. California law treats a revocation and a refusal as two different things, and only the refusal settles it. A revocation withdraws the gift you made. It does not stop anyone else from making the gift for you. Only a refusal does that, and California requires one to be signed. Until you sign one, the decision is still open to someone else. Both provisions are quoted in full below, from California’s own code. What California asks ## What you need to make a refusal in California **Act** 2006 revision **Enforcement** An unrevoked refusal bars all other persons from making the gift. **Signing it yourself** No witnesses required by the statute. **If someone signs at your direction** Two adults. At least one of the two must be a disinterested witness; the other may be anyone, including a family member. **Notary** Not required. **California law** Cal. Health & Safety Code §§ 7150.30, 7150.35 **Statute read** 2026-09-02 Refusal to make anatomical gift; effect of refusal · Preclusive effect of anatomical gift, amendment, or revocation ## The statute itself Quoted from California’s enacted code, in full and unedited. How a refusal is made (a) > An individual may refuse to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part by any of the following: (1) A record signed by either of the following: (A) The individual. (B) Subject to subdivision (b), another individual acting at the direction of the individual if the individual is physically unable to sign. (2) The individual's will, whether or not the will is admitted to probate or invalidated after the individual's death. (3) Any form of communication made by the individual during the individual's terminal illness or injury addressed to at least two adults, at least one of whom is a disinterested witness. The witnesses shall memorialize this communication in a writing and sign and date the writing. Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7150.30 Reads “Subject to subdivision (b)”. That subsection is not reproduced here. What an unrevoked refusal does (d) > Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (h) of Section 7150.35, in the absence of an express, contrary indication by the individual set forth in the refusal, an individual's unrevoked refusal to make an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part bars all other persons from making an anatomical gift of the individual's body or part. Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7150.30 A revocation is not a refusal (b) > A donor's revocation of an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.25 is not a refusal and does not bar another person specified in Section 7150.15 or 7150.40 from making an anatomical gift of the donor's body or part under Section 7150.20 or 7150.45. Cal. Health & Safety Code § 7150.35 [Look up another state](https://wearabledocs.com/states) ## One document, not fifty forms. You tell us your state, we show you what it asks for before you sign, and your page names the state you signed in. Your signed document is what carries legal weight. We host it and make it findable. [See what it costs](https://wearabledocs.com/pricing)