You must be 18 years or older and competent to execute a Health Care Proxy. This means you, the “principal”,  appoints someone to be your “Health Care Agent.” Your health care agent will be able to make health care decisions for you, if and when a doctor determines that you are incapable of making those decisions. The agent can not act under the proxy until that determination is made by the principal’s physician.

Your Health Care Agent is supposed to consider what you would want. So it is important to discuss with them what measures you would and would not want taken. By having this conversation when you are healthy and well, it will lessen the burden of the Agent when the time comes to make possible life and death decisions.

You can not appoint someone who works at the hospital or medical institution where you are staying, unless they are a blood relative. We recommend you have a backup or alternate health care agent should your original agent be unwilling or unable to do so.

Questions? info@RobertRomanoLaw.com