What Is a Medical Power of Attorney?
A medical power of attorney (also called a durable power of attorney for health care or a health care proxy) is a document that names a person you trust, your health care agent, to make medical decisions for you if you can't make them yourself. It is different from a living will, which states which treatments you want or don't want. Each state sets its own rules and forms, such as the Texas Medical Power of Attorney, the New York Health Care Proxy, and California's Advance Health Care Directive.
What the law says
- A durable power of attorney for health care is a document that names your health care proxy, a person you trust to make health decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine), Advance Directives
- A living will is different: it tells which treatments you want if you are dying or permanently unconscious, such as dialysis and breathing machines, resuscitation, tube feeding, and organ or tissue donation. MedlinePlus (National Library of Medicine), Advance Directives
- Example (Texas): the state's Medical Power of Attorney form gives your agent authority to make any and all health care decisions for you, except as you state otherwise, in accordance with your wishes, including your religious and moral beliefs; the agent's authority takes effect when your doctor certifies that you lack the competence to make health care decisions. Texas Health and Human Services, Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent (MPOA) form
- Example (Texas): a health care agent may consent, refuse consent, or withdraw consent to treatment, including decisions about life-sustaining treatment, but may not consent to voluntary inpatient mental health services, convulsive treatment, psychosurgery, or abortion. Texas Health and Human Services, Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent (MPOA) form
- Example (Texas): the Medical Power of Attorney is not valid unless you sign it and have your signature acknowledged before a notary public, or sign it in the presence of two competent adult witnesses; the agent, relatives, heirs, your attending physician, and certain others may not serve as a witness. Texas Health and Human Services, Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent (MPOA) form
- Example (Texas): the agent must be 18 or older (or a minor whose disabilities of minority have been removed); a health or residential care provider who is not a relative must choose between acting as your agent and acting as your provider. Texas Health and Human Services, Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent (MPOA) form
- Example (Texas): the state publishes the living will as a separate form, the Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates, and says its Statutory Durable Power of Attorney for property does not authorize anyone to make medical decisions. Texas Health and Human Services, Advance Directives forms
- Example (New York): a competent adult may appoint a health care agent through a health care proxy, which must be signed and dated in the presence of two adult witnesses who also sign; the person appointed as agent may not act as a witness. New York Public Health Law § 2981
- Example (New York): the law includes a model health care proxy form that may, but need not, be used, and a health care proxy may not be signed on the same form as a power of attorney. New York Public Health Law § 2981
- Example (California): an advance health care directive can identify the person who should handle your health care choices if you cannot, along with alternates; state law requires certain provisions, but there is no required form (Probate Code section 4701). California Attorney General, Advance Care Planning
FAQ
Is a medical power of attorney the same as a living will?
No. A medical (health care) power of attorney names a person to make decisions for you. A living will states which treatments you want if you are dying or permanently unconscious.
Can I still make my own medical decisions after signing one?
Yes. Texas's form says you keep the right to make health care decisions as long as you are able, and treatment cannot be given to you or stopped over your objection.
How do I cancel a medical power of attorney?
In Texas, you can revoke the agent's authority by telling your agent or your health or residential care provider, orally or in writing, or by signing a new medical power of attorney. Unless the document says otherwise, naming a spouse is revoked if the marriage is dissolved, annulled, or declared void.
Do I need a lawyer to make one?
Not in Texas. The state form says you do not need a lawyer's help to complete it, but you should ask a lawyer to explain anything you do not understand.
Can my doctor be my health care agent?
State rules limit this. In New York, hospital operators, administrators, and employees generally may not be appointed by a patient of that hospital, with exceptions such as relatives; a physician who becomes the agent generally may not also act as the patient's attending practitioner.
Who should get a copy?
California's Attorney General suggests giving copies to the agent and any alternates, your doctor and other providers, the health care institution providing your care, and trusted family members likely to be called in an emergency.
Related
- Do I Need a Lawyer to Make a Will?
- How Much Does a Probate Lawyer Cost?
- How to Make a Will
- What Is a Durable Power of Attorney?
- What Is a Living Trust?
- What Is a Power of Attorney?
- What Is a Quitclaim Deed?
- What Is an Executor?
- What Is Probate?
- Will vs. Trust: What's the Difference?
- Wills, Estates & Deeds by state
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.