What are the requirements for signing and witnessing a Health Care Proxy?
You must sign and date a Health Care Proxy in order for it to be enforceable. You must include the name of your agent and state that you intend the agent to make health care decisions for you. You must sign the Health Care Proxy in the presence of two witnesses who are 18 years of age or older. Neither witness can also be the person who you are appointing as your health care agent. The witnesses must also sign the document and state their belief that you are personally known to them, you appear to be of sound mind, and you are acting of your own free will. If you create your Health Care Proxy while you are a resident in a facility operated or licensed by the Office of Mental Health or the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, one of those witnesses cannot be affiliated with that facility. This is not required in a family care home. And, if the facility in which you reside is a psychiatric hospital or ward, at least one of those witnesses must be a “qualified” psy
