Santa Fe Medical Power of Attorney

A medical power of attorney is a critical document, one that prepares your family for a time when you are incapacitated by a serious medical condition. “Incapacity” can refer to anything from dementia to unconsciousness to stroke-induced aphasia. When these situations occur, you cannot express your medical care wishes. Therefore, it’s in your best interests to prepare a medical power of attorney in Santa Fe while you still can.

An experienced estate planning lawyer from New Mexico Financial Law can assist you with preparing a medical power of attorney. They can also help you draft the other parts of your advance healthcare directive. When you meet with an experienced attorney, they can help you go over your options and make the optimal choices with respect to your goals, values, and top healthcare priorities.

Should the time ever come for your advance directive to activate, both you and your family will be relieved that you took the time to make one. It can take the agony and guesswork out of your loved ones’ decisions for the right thing to do. 

Learn more about how medical power of attorney works in Santa Fe — and what choices you have available to customize yours — when you call our firm at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online to schedule a no-obligation case review.

What Is a Santa Fe Medical Power of Attorney? How Do They Work During a Medical Crisis?

A medical power of attorney is a document that gives someone else the authority to make healthcare decisions for you. This person is known as your agent, also sometimes called a healthcare proxy or an attorney-in-fact.

A medical power of attorney is almost always “durable,” meaning your agent’s authority persists even when you have been incapacitated. This arrangement gives you someone to advocate for your choices and make the same healthcare decisions you would. 

Suppose you did not arrange for a designated healthcare proxy in Santa Fe before you became incapacitated. In most of these cases, your family would have to petition to be appointed as your surrogate or guardian by a court. They also may not have the instructions they need to understand what types of care you would wish for. For example, you can specify whether you would want to be placed on artificial nutrition (AKA a “feeding tube”) for months at a time while you are in a medical coma.

This information guides both your loved ones and your care time during a time when making decisions would otherwise be agonizing. With your wishes recorded, your loved ones can make the right decision for you, each and every time.

What Are the Key Parts of an Advance Healthcare Directive?

You can direct your agent’s decision-making with specific instructions included in your medical power of attorney, or you can attach them as a separate document. 

These instructions for care are often referred to as a living will. They are a key part of a set of documents called your advance healthcare directive. The other necessary parts of an advance directive are your medical power of attorney and your designation of a primary care physician.

To recap, an advance healthcare directive contains three separate documents:

• Durable power of attorney for healthcare — Gives someone the authority to make medical decisions for you and advocate for specific treatment plans.

• Instructions for care (AKA your “living will”) — Requires your healthcare decision-maker and care teams to make specific decisions; it can also permit them to make their own decisions in other matters
• Designation of a primary care physician — Names your current doctor, requiring that this provider be consulted to determine if you are incapacitated before the rest of your directive activates

Because of their ability to protect your healthcare wishes in situations where you could not otherwise communicate them, advance healthcare directives are highly recommended by the New Mexico Bar Association for incapacity planning.

How to Create a Medical Power of Attorney in Santa Fe

New Mexico law (NM Stat § 24-7A-2) gives anyone who is over the age of 18 (or an emancipated minor) the ability to create a medical power of attorney. The power must be in writing and signed by the principal (i.e., the person granting authority to an agent).

Anyone can serve as an agent, with one exception: the agent cannot be an “owner, operator, or employee of a health-care institution at which the principal is receiving care,” unless they are directly related to the principal.

Medical powers of attorney in Santa Fe are considered durable, and they only activate when two qualified physicians declare that the principal has been incapacitated.

Any document can serve as a durable power of attorney in Santa Fe, provided that it sufficiently communicates the principal’s wishes to delegate authority to an agent. However, it is recommended to seek assistance from an experienced estate planning lawyer when creating one. They can draft a document that adequately captures all of your unique wishes and values, reducing the risk that important provisions will be missing or unclear.

You can get a solid idea of what your own document could look like by reviewing standard New Mexico POA forms, which are readily available online. Then, you can meet with a lawyer to discuss creating a personalized medical power of attorney.

How Can I Revoke Medical Power of Attorney?

To remove an agent’s status as your healthcare decision-maker, you first have to have the mental capacity to do so, according to New Mexico’s statutory definition of the term. You can then put the revocation in writing and sign it. If you are unable to sign, you can direct someone else to sign the document for you in your presence. Two other parties have to witness this signing.

You can also make an explicit declaration to your supervising healthcare provider, informing them of the document’s revocation. However, to reduce the risk of confusion and provide documentation, a written revocation is recommended.

A principal can also revoke other parts of their advance healthcare directive at any time while they have the capacity to do so. This revocation can be complete or partial, including parts of their instructions for care, their primary care physician designation, or both. While these revocation instructions can be communicated verbally, through electronic communication, or in an unsigned document, it is prudent to formally write down the revocation and sign it.

Note that, if your healthcare decision-maker in Santa Fe was a former spouse, their agent status is automatically revoked when you get divorced, separated, or have the marriage annulled — unless you have declared otherwise in your medical power of attorney.

What Abilities Does My Healthcare Agent Have?

Unless you specify otherwise, a typical durable power of attorney for healthcare would give your agent the ability to:

• Talk with your physician, care team, and other providers about your diagnosis, status, prognosis, and other medical details that could otherwise be considered private health information.
• Review charts, lab results, doctor’s notes, medical records, and other health information that is immediately relevant to the principal’s diagnosis, prognosis, current condition, and care options.
• Order tests or exams to uncover more information about your condition, likelihood of recovery, and possible medical response to proposed courses of treatment.
• Consent to or deny courses of treatment recommended by your care teams
• Request specific care providers and courses of treatment.
• Overrule requests or decisions made by family members and other individuals close to the principal, if these individuals have not been designated as a co-agent.
• Decide how to handle your remains, including decisions related to autopsies and organ or tissue donations.
• Request to become your guardian or conservator, in a situation that requires it to uphold your medical wishes.

In addition, your agent can share private health information with your family and other concerned parties, at your discretion. For example, you can require your agent to keep your spouse and children fully informed of all decisions your agent makes while also providing timely updates on your condition.

End-of-Life Decisions

To ensure that your agent has the information and authority needed to fully honor your wishes, make sure that your medical power of attorney document specifically states your end-of-life care decisions on the following:

• Whether or not to prolong your life, using any available means
• Whether or not to provide artificial nutrition (i.e., a feeding tube) or hydration (i.e., an IV)
• Whether or not to provide comfort-giving measures, such as pain relief
• Whether you would want to donate your organs or tissues, along with your preferences for which organization or institution should receive them

The standard New Mexico advance directive healthcare form defines an “end-of-life” decision-making scenario as one where the patient cannot communicate their wishes and where one or more of the following is also true:

• The patient has an “incurable or irreversible condition that will result in my death within a relatively short time.”
• The patient is unconscious with a very low chance of regaining consciousness.
• Any available treatment plans are more likely to detract from the patient’s quality of life and their likelihood of survival than to offer measurable medical benefits.

What Care Instructions Can I Give My Healthcare Agent? 

You can direct your healthcare proxy in any way you want, so long as the instructions comply with relevant laws and provider policies. These instructions for healthcare usually fall into one of four main categories:

• Explicit instructions – must always be followed.
  • Example: “I do not wish to be treated with opioid or synthetic opioid pain medications at any point in my care.”
• Contingent instructions – apply only if certain conditions are met.
  • Example: “If I am in a medical coma with a high likelihood of terminality, I do not wish to receive artificial nutrition.”
• Variable instructions – depend on factors such as likelihood of recovery and quality of life.
  • Example: “I only wish to be revived through chest compressions and other forms of resuscitation if there is a high likelihood that my recovery could lead to a positive medical outcome and a high quality of remaining life.”
• Discretionary instructions – allow the agent to make judgment calls guided by the principal’s values.
  • Example: “Understanding that I do not wish to undergo surgery if I have a high chance of mortality or morbidity, I leave it to my agent’s discretion to consent to procedures that could significantly prolong my life.”

Absent any other instructions, the agent has the authority to make decisions that they feel align with the principal’s wishes and intentions. The agent is obligated to use the full set of facts available to them to come to these conclusions. Examples of information they should use to come to a decision include.

• Contextual and inferred information derived from the principal’s written and signed instructions that are contained in their advance healthcare directive
• Explicit statements made directly to the agent before the principal’s incapacitation, verbally, electronically, or in writing
• General statements made to the agent or other parties describing the principal’s feelings on certain forms of treatment or their values, such as whether they would like their life prolonged while suffering from a terminal condition
• Other available information, such as the agent’s patterns of belief (e.g., they had expressed being categorically against life-prolonging measures even when a patient is suffering from a low quality of life) and their alignment with specific philosophies (e.g., they were a devout conservative Catholic).

New Mexico law (NM Stat § 24-7A-9) provides that the agent “is not subject to civil or criminal liability or to discipline for unprofessional conduct for health-care decisions made in good faith.” In other words, they cannot be sued or prosecuted, so long as they make their decisions using the full extent of their knowledge and understanding, all with the intention of helping the principal and honoring their wishes.

Who Can Serve as My Healthcare Agent?

Anyone who is over the age of 18, has mental capacity, and can be trusted to follow your instructions and make decisions in your best interest can serve as a healthcare agent or surrogate.

You can designate multiple agents, but be sure that you describe what should happen if they disagree on a plan of action. Options include requiring a majority vote, a unanimous vote, or giving one agent the ability to supersede the other agents’ decisions.

Can My Family or Other Individuals Override My Agent’s Decisions?

Your agent has the sole authority to make decisions and consent to possible treatment strategies. 

However, a family member or other party who is interested in your well-being can petition a court to intervene if they feel that the agent is acting improperly. Examples of situations that could supply grounds for removing them include a situation where your agent:

• Made a decision contrary to the instructions contained in your advance healthcare directive
• Failed to provide timely information or documentation, contrary to your instructions
• Coerced or manipulated you into giving them power of attorney before your incapacitation
• Went beyond the scope of authority permitted in your advance healthcare directive

Often, an attempt to override your agent is made with a genuine desire to look after your best interests. Other times, a family member or other loved one will seek to remove an agent’s authority as an emotional response to the agent faithfully carrying out your wishes.

To prevent the latter situation, ensure that you tell your family about your wishes and your plans for treatment if you become incapacitated. You can also clearly document your wishes and instructions in a letter that can be given to loved ones once your advance healthcare directive is activated.

Reach Out to an Experienced Santa Fe Law Firm for Help Creating a Medical Power of Attorney

Drafting your medical power of attorney means making difficult decisions. You will want to fully understand all of your options and receive guidance for expressing your wishes in a clear, legally enforceable way.

New Mexico Financial Law can assist you with these matters, as well as any other aspects of preparing for the future. You can contact our offices to meet with a Santa Fe estate planning lawyer and discuss medical power of attorney. Call us at (505) 503-1637 or contact us online to schedule a no-obligation consultation today.