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Georgia Power of Attorney for Health Care
| By: | Date of Birth: |
This power of attorney for health care has three parts:
PART ONE-Health Care Agent. This part allows you to choose someone to make health care decisions for you when you cannot (or do not want to) make health care decisions for yourself. The person you choose is called a health care agent. You may also have your health care agent make decisions for you after your death with respect to an autopsy, organ donation, body donation, and final disposition of your body. You should talk to your health care agent about this important role.
PART TWO-Guardianship. This part allows you to nominate a person to be your guardian should one ever be needed.
PART THREE-Effectiveness and Signatures. This part requires your signature and the signatures of two witnesses. You must complete PART THREE if you have filled out any other part of this form.
You may fill out any or all of the first two parts listed above. You must fill out PART THREE of this form in order for this form to be effective.
You should give a copy of this completed form to people who might need it, such as your health care agent, your family, and your physician. Keep a copy of this completed form at home in a place where it can easily be found if it is needed. Review this completed form periodically to make sure it still reflects your preferences. If your preferences change, complete a new power of attorney for health care.
Using this form of power of attorney for health care is completely optional. Other forms of advance directives for health care may be used in Georgia.
You may revoke this completed form at any time. This completed form will replace any durable power of attorney for health care or health care proxy that you have completed before completing this form.
PART ONE-Health Care Agent
A physician or health care provider who is directly involved in your health care may not serve as your health care agent. If you are married, a future divorce or annulment of your marriage will revoke the selection of your current spouse as your health care agent. If you are not married, a future marriage will revoke the selection of your health care agent unless the person you selected as your health care agent is your new spouse.
1. Health Care Agent
I select the following person as my health care agent to make health care decisions for me:
Name:
Address: , ,
Telephone Numbers: ,
2. Back-Up Health Care Agent
This section is optional. PART ONE will be effective even if this section is left blank.
If my health care agent cannot be contacted in a reasonable time period and cannot be located with reasonable efforts or for any reason my health care agent is unavailable or unable or unwilling to act as my health care agent, then I select the following, each to act successively in the order named, as my back-up health care agent(s):
3. General Powers of Health Care Agent
My health care agent will make health care decisions for me when I am unable to communicate my health care decisions or I choose to have my health care agent communicate my health care decisions.
My health care agent will have the same authority to make any health care decision that I could make. My health care agent's authority includes, for example, the power to:
| - | Admit me to or discharge me from any hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice, or other health care facility or service; |
| - | Request, consent to, withhold, or withdraw any type of health care; and |
| - | Contract for any health care facility or service for me, and to obligate me to pay for these services (and my health care agent will not be financially liable for any services or care contracted for me or on my behalf). |
My health care agent will be my personal representative for all purposes of federal or state law related to privacy of medical records (including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) and will have the same access to my medical records that I have and can disclose the contents of my medical records to others for my ongoing health care.
My health care agent may accompany me in an ambulance or air ambulance if in the opinion of the ambulance personnel protocol permits a passenger and my health care agent may visit or consult with me in person while I am in a hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice, or other health care facility or service if its protocol permits visitation.
My health care agent may present a copy of this power of attorney for health care in lieu of the original and the copy will have the same meaning and effect as the original.
I understand that under Georgia law:
| - | My health care agent may refuse to act as my health care agent; |
| - | A court can take away the powers of my health care agent if it finds that my health care agent is not acting properly; and |
| - | My health care agent does not have the power to make health care decisions for me regarding psychosurgery, sterilization, or treatment or involuntary hospitalization for mental or emotional illness, mental retardation, or addictive disease. |
4. Guidance for Health Care Agent
When making health care decisions for me, my health care agent should think about what action would be consistent with past conversations we have had, my treatment preferences as expressed in PART TWO (if I have filled out PART TWO), my religious and other beliefs and values, and how I have handled medical and other important issues in the past. If what I would decide is still unclear, then my health care agent should make decisions for me that my health care agent believes are in my best interest, considering the benefits, burdens, and risks of my current circumstances and treatment options.
5. Powers of Health Care Agent After Death
(A) AUTOPSY
My health care agent will have the power to authorize an autopsy of my body unless I have limited my health care agents power by initialing below.
| _________ (Initials) | My health care agent will not have the power to authorize an autopsy of my body (unless an autopsy is required by law). |
(B) ORGAN DONATION AND DONATION OF BODY
My health care agent will have the power to make a disposition of any part or all of my body for medical purposes pursuant to the Georgia Anatomical Gift Act, unless I have limited my health care agents power by initialing below.
Initial each statement that you want to apply.
| _________ (Initials) | My health care agent will not have the power to make a disposition of my body for use in a medical study program. |
| _________ (Initials) | My health care agent will not have the power to donate any of my organs. |
(C) FINAL DISPOSITION OF BODY
My health care agent will have the power to make decisions about the final disposition of my body unless I have initialed below.
| _________ (Initials) | I want the following person to make decisions about the final disposition of my body: |
I wish for my body to be:
| _________ (Initials) | Buried |
OR
| _________ (Initials) | Cremated |
PART TWO-Guardianship
6. Guardianship
PART TWO is optional. This power of attorney for health care will be effective even if PART TWO is left blank. If you wish to nominate a person to be your guardian in the event a court decides that a guardian should be appointed, complete PART TWO. A court will appoint a guardian for you if the court finds that you are not able to make significant responsible decisions for yourself regarding your personal support, safety, or welfare. A court will appoint the person nominated by you if the court finds that the appointment will serve your best interest and welfare. If you have selected a health care agent in PART ONE, you may (but are not required to) nominate the same person to be your guardian. If your health care agent and guardian are not the same person, your health care agent will have priority over your guardian in making your health care decisions, unless a court determines otherwise.
State your preference by initialing (A) or (B). Choose (A) only if you have also completed PART ONE.
| (A) | _________ (Initials) | I nominate the person serving as my health care agent under PART ONE to serve as my guardian. |
OR
| (B) | _________ (Initials) | I nominate the following person to serve as my guardian: |
PART THREE-Effectiveness and Signatures
This power of attorney for health care will become effective only if I am unable or choose not to make or communicate my own health care decisions.
This form revokes any durable power of attorney for health care or health care proxy that I have completed before this date.
Unless I have initialed below and have provided alternative future dates or events, this power of attorney for health care will become effective at the time I sign it and will remain effective until my death (and after my death to the extent authorized in Section (5) of PART ONE).
| _________ (Initials) | This power of attorney for health care will become effective on or upon and will terminate on or upon . |
You must sign and date or acknowledge signing and dating this form in the presence of two witnesses. Both witnesses must be of sound mind and must be at least 18 years of age, but the witnesses do not have to be together or present with you when you sign this form.
A witness:
| - | Cannot be a person who was selected to be your health care agent or back-up health care agent in PART ONE; |
| - | Cannot be a person who will knowingly inherit anything from you or otherwise knowingly gain a financial benefit from your death; or |
| - | Cannot be a person who is directly involved in your health care. |
Only one of the witnesses may be an employee, agent, or medical staff member of the hospital, skilled nursing facility, hospice, or other health care facility in which you are receiving health care (but this witness cannot be directly involved in your health care).
By signing below, I state that I am emotionally and mentally capable of making this power of attorney for health care and that I understand its purpose and effect.
| __________________________________________ | __________________________ |
| Date |
The declarant signed this form in my presence or acknowledged signing this form to me. Based upon my personal observation, the declarant appeared to be emotionally and mentally capable of making this power of attorney for health care and signed this form willingly and voluntarily.
| __________________________________________ | __________________________ |
| (Signature of First Witness) | Date |
Print Name:
Address:, ,
| __________________________________________ | __________________________ |
| (Signature of Second Witness) | Date |
Print Name:
Address:, ,
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It is very simple to grant or obtain the support you might need with a free Georgia Medical Power of Attorney template from Rocket Lawyer:
This route is often much more affordable than hiring the average law firm. If needed, you can fill out a Medical PoA on behalf of a relative, and then help them sign after you've drafted it. Keep in mind that for a PoA form to be considered legally valid, the principal must be an adult who is mentally competent at the time of signing. In the event that the principal is already incapacitated and unable to make their own decisions, a court-appointed conservatorship might be necessary. When facing this scenario, it's important to work with an attorney .
Every person over 18 should have a Medical Power of Attorney. Though it may be tough to think about, a day could come when you cannot make your own medical decisions. Typical circumstances where you may consider power of attorney to be helpful include:
Regardless of whether your Georgia Medical Power of Attorney has been produced in response to an emergency or as part of a long-term plan, witnesses and/or notarization are strongly recommended for protecting your document if its authenticity is doubted by a third party.
At times, when discussing the topics of elder care or estate planning with medical or legal professionals, you or a loved one may hear "healthcare power of attorney", "medical power of attorney" and "healthcare proxy" used interchangeably. In reality, they are one and the same. That being said, please keep in mind that it is absolutely possible to give agency over affairs that aren't related to health care, in which case, "proxy" is not normally used.
Georgia Medical PoA forms are normally simple to make; however, you or your agent(s) could still have questions. Hiring a legal professional to comment on your Georgia Medical Power of Attorney might be time-consuming and relatively costly. An easier and more cost-effective alternative is through attorney services at Rocket Lawyer. When you sign up for a Premium membership, you can get your document reviewed or ask any questions. You can rest assured that Rocket Lawyer is here to support you.
The cost of working with your average attorney to generate a Medical Power of Attorney might range between two hundred and five hundred dollars, depending on your location. Different from most other Power of Attorney template websites that you may come across elsewhere, Rocket Lawyer offers members up to 40% in savings when hiring a lawyer, so an attorney can represent you if you ever need support.
With a Premium membership, you may make edits, save it in PDF format or as a Word file, or print it. In order to turn your PoA into a true legal document, you need to sign it. You should provide a final copy of your fully signed document to your agent(s) and care providers.
The rules will be different in each state; however, in Georgia, your document must be signed by two witnesses. Witnesses cannot be anyone who is directly involved in your health care. Heirs and beneficiaries are excluded, as well. Finally, as a general rule, witnesses will need to be over 18 years old, and no witness should also be your PoA agent.
See Georgia Medical/Healthcare Power of Attorney law: Title 31, Chapter 32
