A written document that designates another person to serve as your agent for purposes of making health care decisions when you are unable to do so. The document must contain language expressing that this power is to remain in force even if you are incapacitated. For this document to be valid, it must be dated and signed in the presence of at least two witnesses who are at least 18 years of age.

California law allows you to choose another person to make health care decisions for you if for any reason you are unable to speak for yourself. By completing a form called "Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care" (DPAHC), you can appoint another person to make decisions about your medical care if you are unconscious or otherwise cannot make these decisions for yourself. You can also write down your health care wishes in the DPAHC form.

No. A financial power of attorney gives another person limited authority over some of your financial matters, even when you can communicate and are in good health. It can be granted - and withdrawn - at any time. A Durable Power of Attorney designates someone specifically for medical decisionmaking, usually a family member or close friend. The Durable Power of Attorney also can name two alternates for making medical decisions in case the original proxy is unwilling or unable to serve.

Yes. You can have a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care at the same time. Generally you can provide additional instructions in your advance health care directive for situations to which the living will does not apply. It is important to ensure that these documents are consistent so that there will be no confusion concerning your wishes when you are unable to make them known yourself. Some states also permit you to have a single, combined advance directive document.

A power of attorney is a document in which you, as principal, appoint another person to serve as your attorney in fact (in other words, as your agent) in business and financial matters affecting you or your property. A power of attorney is “durable” if the power it confers remains effective even though you later become incapacitated. Your attorney in fact has no authority to make health care decisions for you.

A Living Will is a document addressing only deathbed considerations. In this document a client unilaterally declares his/her desire that life-prolonging measures be discontinued when there is no hope of ultimate recovery. A client uses a Durable Power of Attorney for all healthcare decisions, limited by certain elections regarding deathbed issues.

No. When a Living Will activates for a patient in a terminal condition or a permanently unconscious state, the Living Will declaration has control over a Durable (Health Care) Power of Attorney. That is, the person designated as the health care proxy in the Durable Power of Attorney must follow your wishes outlined in the Living Will. The authority of a health care proxy through a Durable Power of Attorney is limited.

Each document is significant for different reasons. While it's possible to have only one of these documents in place, it is better to have both prepared since each document serves a different function. A Living Will is active only when you are terminally ill or permanently unconscious, whereas a Durable (Health Care) Power of Attorney appoints someone to authorize or refuse medical treatment whenever you are unable to express your own wishes.

A Durable Health Care Power of Attorney allows you to name an individual to make medical decisions for you if you become unable to do so yourself. The declaration must be in writing and signed by two witnesses. The Durable Health Care Power of Attorney, like a "non-springing" Durable Power of Attorney, is effective immediately but an Escrow Instruction Letter may be used.

This document (known by other names depending on the state where you live) lets you appoint an agent to make health care decisions for you if you become incapacitated and unable to speak for yourself. You may include language in this document that directs medical professionals to give your partner the right to visit you in any hospital or health care facility.

It is a good idea to have both documents because they serve two different purposes. A living will takes effect only when there is no hope for recovery. A durable power of attorney takes effect whenever you become unable to make decisions - for instance during surgery or even when you become temporarily unconscious. Under New Hampshire law, if the terms of your living will and durable power of attorney conflict, the durable power of attorney controls.

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Advance Directives are a legal document that describes the kinds of procedures you would want (or don't want) in the event that you are unable to communicate or make decisions for yourself. We recommend you appoint someone to speak on your behalf should you be unable to. This person is called a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care. Please ask your social worker for these forms to complete.

Your health care agent would begin to make health care decisions after your doctor decides that you are not able to make your own health care decisions. As long as you are able to make health care decisions for yourself, you will have the right to do so.

It is a document that empowers someone else to make health care decisions for you in the event that you have lost the capacity to make those decisions yourself, due to some disability. Bear in mind that, in many states, the decision of whether or not to administer care to someone who is incapacitated automatically defaults to the physician, not the spouse...unless you have it in writing that you want someone else to have that power.