A healthcare proxy document is a document that you sign appointing someone else to step into your shoes should you need healthcare decisions made when you’re incompetent or incapacitated.
Clients will often ask:
What happens when I go into my doctor’s office or go in for to the hospital for a procedure and they want me to sign a new healthcare proxy?
We recommend that you do NOT do this if you have a healthcare proxy that you’ve put in place with your attorney. That document typically has a broad range of authority for your healthcare proxy to be able to utilize should they have to step into your shoes. Signing a new healthcare proxy with either your doctor’s office or some facility such as a hospital or a rehab center, may make it so that your previous healthcare proxy is now null and void.
Keeping your current proxy in place if you have a document that names the person of your choosing and gives a wide range of authority to that individual is critical to ensure that they’re able to make decisions on your behalf should the need arise.
Founded by a nurse attorney and with offices in Acton, Andover, and Sudbury, Massachusetts, Generations Law Group helps families navigate the complex areas of estate planning and elder law to inform and protect loved ones of every generation.
