INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR DELAWARE ADVANCE HEALTH-CARE DIRECTIVE
How do I make my advance health-care directive legal?
Delaware law requires that you sign and date your written advance health-care directive in the presence of two witnesses who are 18 years of age or older. If you are unable to sign the document, another person may sign the document for you in your presence and at your direction. Your witnesses cannot:
- be related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption,
- be entitled to any portion of your estate,
- have a claim against any portion of your estate,
- be directly financially responsible for your health care, or
- be an operator or employee of — or have a controlling interest in — a health-care institution where you are a patient or in which you reside.
If you are a resident of a sanitarium, rest home, nursing home, boarding home, or related institution, then one of your witnesses must be a designated patient advocate or ombudsman.
Whom should I appoint as my agent?
Your agent is the person you appoint to make decisions about your medical care if you become unable to make those decisions yourself. Your agent may be a family member or a close friend whom you trust to make serious decisions. The person you name as your agent should clearly understand your wishes and be willing to accept the responsibility of making medical decisions for you.
If you are a resident at a long-term health-care institution, your agent cannot be an operator or employee of or have a controlling interest in the residential long-term health- care institution where you are receiving care, unless that person is related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption.
You can appoint a second and third person as your alternate agents. An alternate agent will step in if the person(s) you name as agent is/are unable, unwilling or unavailable to act for you.
Should I add personal instructions to my Power of Attorney?
One of the strongest reasons for naming an agent is to have someone who can respond flexibly as your medical situation changes and deal with situations that you did not foresee. If you add instructions to this document it may help your agent carry out your wishes, but be careful that you do not unintentionally restrict your agent’s power to act in your best interest. In any event, be sure to talk with your agent about your future medical care and describe what you consider to be an acceptable “quality of life.”
What if I change my mind?
You can revoke all or part of your advance health-care directive:
- through a signed writing,
- by completing a new advance health-care directive, or
- in any other manner that communicates your intent to revoke your directive in front of two competent persons, one of whom is a health-care provider.
If your revocation is not in writing, someone must put it in writing and must sign and date it in front of two witnesses.
Unless you specify otherwise, if you designate your spouse as your agent, that designation will automatically be revoked by divorce, annulment, or dissolution of your marriage or by a filing of a petition for divorce.
Are there any important facts I should know?
Under Delaware law, a life-sustaining procedure may not be withheld or withdrawn from a patient known to be pregnant, if it is probable that the fetus will survive with the continued application of life-sustaining procedures.