Make your Free Washington Healthcare Power of Attorney

A Washington Healthcare Power of Attorney is a legal document that grants a person or entity the authority to make health-related decisions for you, such as accepting or refusing medical treatment, when you cannot do so.

The person granting permission is known as the "principal," and the person or entity gaining authority is called the "agent." Suited for residents of Washington, our Power of Attorney for health care is made for use in Snohomish County, Spokane County, Clark County, and in all other regions across the state. All Washington Healthcare PoA forms from Rocket Lawyer can be edited for your specific scenario. Creating this document will provide proof to healthcare facilities and other parties that your agent is legally allowed to act in your interest.

It is simple and easy to assign or receive the support you may need with a free Washington Healthcare Power of Attorney template from Rocket Lawyer:

1. Make your document - Answer a few questions and we will do the rest
2. Send or share - Review the PoA with your agent(s) or seek legal advice
3. Sign it and make it legal - Mandatory or not, notarization/witnesses are ideal

This method, in many cases, would be notably less expensive than finding and hiring a conventional provider. If necessary, you can prepare this Medical PoA on behalf of a family member, and then have that person sign after you've drafted it. Please keep in mind that for a Power of Attorney to be considered valid, the principal must be mentally competent when they sign. If the principal is already incapacitated and unable to make their own decisions, a court-appointed conservatorship may be necessary. When dealing with such a scenario, it would be important to speak with an attorney.

Every adult should have a Healthcare Power of Attorney. Even though it is challenging to acknowledge, there might come a time when you are not able to make your own medical decisions. Common circumstances where PoA forms would be helpful include:

• You've been diagnosed with a terminal illness
• You will be hospitalized for a medical procedure
• You are planning to live in an adult care facility
• You are getting older or have declining health

Regardless of whether this Washington Healthcare Power of Attorney is being produced in response to an unexpected emergency or as part of a forward-looking plan, witnesses and/or notarization can often help to protect your agent if their privileges and authority are challenged.

In the process of researching the topics of estate planning and/or elder care, you might hear "healthcare proxy" and "healthcare power of attorney" being used together. In reality, they're the same. That being said, you should keep in mind that it's absolutely possible to have power of attorney over affairs that aren't health-related. In that case, "proxy" typically is not the term of choice.

Washington Medical PoA forms are typically straightforward, but you might need legal advice. Getting a legal professional to review your Washington Healthcare Power of Attorney could be fairly time-intensive. A more cost-effective route would be via the On Call network of attorneys. By becoming a Premium member, you can have your document reviewed by an experienced attorney. As always, Rocket Lawyer will be here to support you.

The cost of finding and hiring a legal provider to make a Medical Power of Attorney might add up to between two hundred and five hundred dollars, based on your location. Rocket Lawyer can offer much more protection than most other Power of Attorney template websites that you may encounter. As a Rocket Lawyer Premium member, you can get up to 40% in savings when hiring an attorney from our On Call network.

Each Power of Attorney has its own checklist of next steps to take to finalize your document. Feel free to take any or all of the following actions related to your PoA: editing it, saving it as a Word or PDF file, printing it, or signing it. Finally, your agent(s), care providers, and other impacted parties should get a copy of the final document.

The specifications and restrictions governing PoA forms will vary in each state; however, in Washington, your Power of Attorney will require the signatures of two witnesses or a notary public. The witnesses to your form shouldn't include any care providers, whether at your home, at an adult family home, or at a long-term care facility, if you live there. Your spouse and any other family members are also restricted from being witnesses. Finally, as a general rule, your witness(es) will need to not be under the age of 18, and none of them should also be designated as your Power of Attorney agent.

See Washington Healthcare Power of Attorney law: RCW 11.125.90