The health care proxy is a legal means of choosing an authorized person who is able to make medical decisions on your behalf when circumstances are such that you are yourself unable to make such decisions. The health care proxy is an important legal document, which should be well understood prior to signing it since it will give to another person the authority to make each and every decision relating to your health including deciding to remove, or give treatment meant to sustain your life.

Give Instructions Related To Artificial Nutrition, And More

It is also important for you to state in your health care proxy what you wish for regarding artificial nutrition as well as hydration treatment, which is water given through feeding tubes or intravenous lines, and to allow for such measures to be performed according to your wishes. The authorized agent will be able to make such decisions when the doctor determines that you are not in a suitable condition to take such health related decisions on your own.

You can also write your health care proxy instructions regarding which type of treatments you do not desire as well as those treatments you wish for, and the instructions can also limit the decisions that your agent can, or cannot make. Your agent must follow these instructions to the T when in the process of making decisions on your behalf. There is however no need to have a lawyer to fill out the health care proxy form.

Also, for the authorized agent, you can choose anyone who is an adult and over eighteen years of age, and it can even be a family member as well as a close friend. You may also wish to appoint a doctor as the authorized agent who may then have to choose between acting as your agent, or as the attendant doctor.

Before you appoint someone as your authorized agent in the health care proxy, you should have discussions with such person and ensure that he or she is willing to act on your behalf, and let such person know that he or she will be acting as your authorized agent as per the health care proxy. Sometimes, you may appoint your spouse whom you may at a later time divorce. In such a case, your former spouse will no longer be able to act as your agent, unless you specifically allow for such circumstances.

Signing the health care proxy does still allow you to make your own health care decisions for as long as you are in a condition to do so, and you can continue to receive treatment and your agent will not have a power to object if you raise an objection at some point during your health care treatment. The agent will be voluntarily appointed, and you can also specify how to treat the organs as well as donate them along with tissues.