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POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE
I. What Is A Power of Attorney? A power of attorney is a written instrument in which one person (the principal) appoints another person or persons (the agent or attorney-in-fact) to act in place or on behalf of the principal.
II. Power of Attorney for Health Care (PAHC): This document permits the agent to make health care decisions on behalf of the principal only upon the principal's incapacity. This document is also known as a "medical directive" because it forth your wishes regarding the type of health care you want to receive or do not want receive. The agent must take action in accordance with the PAHC.
1) Authority Granted: The principal authorizes an agent to make decisions about the principal's health care, which includes any care, treatment, service or procedure to maintain, diagnose, or treat an individual's physical or mental condition, and it includes decisions affecting the principal after death.
2) "Health Care Decisions" means consent, refusal of consent, or withdrawal of consent to health care, or a decision to begin, continue, increase, limit, discontinue, or not to begin any health care. A PAHC can be drafted to reflect the desires and needs of the individual principal.
3) Expiration Date:
a) January 1, 1984 to December 31, 1991: PAHCs executed during this period of time automatically terminate seven (7) years after date of execution, unless at the end of the seven (7) year period the principal is incapacitated. When a power of attorney for health care expires, it is no longer valid.
b) January 1, 1992 to present: PAHCs executed during this period may be valid indefinitely, unless the document contains a warning statement referring to a seven (7) year limit on its duration.
Capacity: A person must have the capacity to enter into contracts and understand the ramifications of his or her execution of a power of attorney in order for him or her to execute a valid power of attorney for health care. If the person does not have such capacity, then he or she cannot execute a power of attorney for health care.
Written by R. Christine Brown
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