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Mississippi Healthcare Power of Attorney

A Mississippi Healthcare Power of Attorney is a legal document that grants a trusted person or entity permission to make health-related decisions on your behalf, such as refusing or accepting specific medical treatments, when you cannot do so.

The person giving permission is known as the "principal," while the individual or organization gaining authority is known as the "agent." Suited for residents of Mississippi, our Power of Attorney for health care is made for use in Hinds County, Harrison County, DeSoto County, and in all other counties across the state. All Mississippi Medical PoA forms from Rocket Lawyer can be tailored to address your specific situation. With this essential document on hand, your agent will be able to provide confirmation to healthcare providers and other parties that they can legally act in your interest.

It is very simple to grant or receive the authority you may need with a free Mississippi Healthcare Power of Attorney template from Rocket Lawyer:

1. Make your document - Provide a few basic details and we will do the rest
2. Send or share it - Review it with your agent or ask a legal question
3. Sign it - Optional or not, witnesses/notarization are a best practice

This route, in most cases, would be notably less expensive than meeting and hiring your average lawyer. If necessary, you may fill out this Medical PoA on behalf of your spouse or another relative, and then help them sign it after you've drafted it. Keep in mind that for this document to be accepted as valid, the principal must be mentally competent at the time of signing. In the event that the principal is already unable to make their own decisions, a conservatorship could be required. When facing such a scenario, it would be important for you to speak with a lawyer.

Anyone who is over 18 should have a Healthcare Power of Attorney. Although it's unpleasant to acknowledge, a time will likely come when you are not able to make your own medical decisions. Here are some typical circumstances in which you might consider PoA forms to be helpful:

• You are getting older or dealing with ongoing health issues
• You have plans to live in a community care facility
• You will be expecting to undergo a medical procedure requiring anesthesia
• You have been diagnosed with a terminal condition

Regardless of whether your Mississippi Healthcare Power of Attorney is being produced as a result of an unexpected emergency or as part of a long-term plan, notarization and witnesses can often help to protect your agent if anyone questions their privileges and authority.

At times, in researching the topics of estate planning or elder care, you or a loved one might see the terms "healthcare proxy" and "healthcare power of attorney" used together. In actuality, they're one and the same. That said, it's entirely possible to have agency over affairs that aren't health-related, in which case, "proxy" typically is not the preferred term.

Mississippi Medical PoA forms are generally straightforward, but you or your agent could need legal advice. The answer will depend on whom you contact, but quite often some lawyers will not even accept requests to review your document if they were not the author. A more favorable approach would be to request help from the Rocket Lawyer On Call^® attorney network. When you sign up for a Premium membership, you have the ability to ask for guidance from an On Call attorney with relevant experience or ask additional questions about your Healthcare Power of Attorney. Rocket Lawyer is here to help.

The cost of finding and working with a lawyer to draft a Medical Power of Attorney might add up to anywhere between two hundred and five hundred dollars, based on your location. Unlike the other websites that you may stumble upon, Rocket Lawyer offers much more than a Power of Attorney template. If you ever require assistance from a lawyer, your Rocket Lawyer membership offers up to a 40% discount when you hire an attorney from our On Call network.

With a Premium membership, you can make edits, save it in PDF format or as a Word document, and print it. In order to make the drafted PoA into a truly legal document, you must sign it. Make sure to provide a copy of the fully signed document to your agent(s) and care providers.

The guidelines for PoA forms are different by state; however, in Mississippi, your Power of Attorney will require the signatures of two witnesses or a notary public. At least one of the witnesses to your PoA form should not be a relative, spouse, adopted child, heir, or any other beneficiary. As a basic principle, witnesses must be 18 years old or older, and no witness should also be your PoA agent.

See Mississippi Healthcare Power of Attorney law: Title 41, Ch. 41