What is a durable power of attorney for health care?
This is an estate planning document where you appoint someone to make health care decisions for you in the event you become incapacitated for any reason. Thus, the appointed person will make all health care decisions for you, with the assistance from your physician, during your period of incapacity. This avoids the need of a formal conservatorship which can be a burdensome and expensive process overseen by the Probate Court. In this document you can also designate whether or not you want life support systems in the event you are in an irreversible comatose state.
A durable power of attorney for health care (DPAHC) is another type of advance health care directive. The Principal designates someone (Health Care Agent) to have authority to make health care decisions on his or her behalf when the Principal is not capable of making such decisions. This document may also include specific instructions about the kind of health care that the Principal wants or does not want, including if and when life sustaining treatment should be provided. The DPAHC allows for more complete informed consent by both the Principal and the designated Health Care Agent. The Health Care Agent is better able than is a living will to account for advancements in medicine and to the changing circumstances of the Principal’s illness when making decisions on the Principal’s behalf.
A “durable power of attorney for health care” is a legal document in which you name another person as your agent to make health care decisions for you. A durable power of attorney for health care is exactly the same as any other durable power of attorney except that it pertains only to your health care, not financial matters. You can include instructions about the types of medical treatments you want – or don’t want. The following are a few examples of the types of things you can include: Your personal goals, values and preferences; the types of medical treatment you would want – or don’t want; how you want your agent to make decisions; where you want to receive care; instructions about artificial nutrition and hydration; mental health treatments; organ donations; funeral arrangements; and whom you would like to have as a guardian or conservator of your person if one is to be appointed for you. You can be as general or as specific as you like, because it is your directive to your desig
A durable power of attorney for health care is a legal document that allows you, as the principal, to appoint an agent to make your health care decisions for you. You must be incapacitated and no longer capable of making your own health care decisions. Your attending physician must certify in writing that you lack the capacity to make your own health care decisions.
