Fill and Sign the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Living Will Statutory New Hampshire Form

INFORMATION CONCERNING THE DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE (New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 137-J:19) I INFORMATION CONCERNING THE DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE THIS IS AN IMPORTANT LEGAL DOCUMENT. BEFORE SIGNING IT, YOU SHOULD KNOW THESE IMPORTANT FACTS: Except if you say otherwise in the directive, this directive gives the person you name as your health care agent the power to make any and all health care decisions for you when you lack the capacity to make health care decisions for yourself (in other words, you no longer have the ability to understand and appreciate generally the nature and consequences of a health care decision, including the significant benefits and harms of and reasonable alternatives to any proposed health care). ""Health care'' means any treatment, service or procedure to maintain, diagnose or treat your physical or mental condition. Your health care agent, therefore, will have the power to make a wide range of health care decisions for you. Your health care agent may consent (in other words, give permission) , refuse to consent, or withdraw consent to medical treatment, and may make decisions about withdrawing or withholding life-sustaining treatment. Your health care agent cannot consent to or direct any of the following: commitment to a state institution, sterilization, or termination of treatment if you are pregnant and if the withdrawal of that treatment is deemed likely to terminate the pregnancy, unless the treatment will be physically harmful to you or prolong severe pain which cannot be alleviated by medication. You may state in this directive any treatment you do not want, or any treatment you want to be sure you receive. Your health care agent's power will begin when your doctor certifies that you lack the capacity to make health care decisions (in other words, that you are not able to make health care decisions). If for moral or religious reasons you do not want to be treated by a doctor or to be examined by a doctor to certify that you lack capacity, you must say so in the directive and you must name someone who can certify your lack of capacity. That person cannot be your health care agent or alternate health care agent or any person who is not eligible to be your health care agent. You may attach additional pages to the document if you need more space to complete your statement. Under no conditions will your health care agent be able to direct the withholding of food and drink that you are able to eat and drink normally. Your agent shall be directed by your written instructions in this document when making decisions on your behalf, and as further guided by your medical condition or prognosis. Unless you state otherwise in the directive, your agent will have the same power to make decisions about your health care as you would have made, if those decisions by your health care agent are made consistent with state law. It is important that you discuss this directive with your doctor or other health care providers before you sign it, to make sure that you understand the nature and range of decisions which could be made for you by your health care agent. If you do not have a health care provider, you should talk with someone else who is knowledgeable about these issues and can answer your questions. Check with your community hospital or hospice for trained staff. You do not need a lawyer's assistance to complete this directive, but if there is anything in this directive that you do not understand, you should ask a lawyer to explain it to you. The person you choose as your health care agent should be someone you know and trust, and he or she must be at least 18 years old. If you choose your health or residential care provider (such as your doctor, advanced registered nurse practitioner, or an employee of a hospital, nursing home, home health agency, or residential care home, other than a relative), that person will have to choose between acting as your health care agent or as your health or residential care provider, because the law does not allow a person to do both at the same time. You should consider choosing an alternate health care agent, in case your health care agent is unwilling, unable, unavailable or not eligible to act as your health care agent. Any alternate health care agent you choose will then have the same authority to make health care decisions for you. You should tell the person you choose that you want him or her to be your health care agent. You should talk about this directive with your health care agent and your doctor or advanced registered nurse practitioner and give each one a signed copy. You should write on the directive itself the people and institutions who will have signed copies. Your health care agent will not be liable for health care decisions made in good faith on your behalf. EVEN AFTER YOU HAVE SIGNED THIS DIRECTIVE, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO MAKE HEALTH CARE DECISIONS FOR YOURSELF AS LONG AS YOU ARE ABLE TO DO SO, AND TREATMENT CANNOT BE GIVEN TO YOU OR STOPPED OVER YOUR CLEAR OBJECTION. You have the right to revoke the power given to your health care agent by telling him or her, or by telling your health care provider, orally or in writing, that you no longer want that person to be your health care agent. YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXCLUDE OR STRIKE REFERENCES TO ARNP'S IN YOUR ADVANCE DIRECTIVE AND IF YOU DO SO, YOUR ADVANCE DIRECTIVE SHALL STILL BE VALID AND ENFORCEABLE. Once this directive is executed it cannot be changed or modified. If you want to make changes, you must make an entirely new directive. THIS POWER OF ATTORNEY WILL NOT BE VALID UNLESS IT IS SIGNED IN THE PRESENCE OF A NOTARY PUBLIC OR JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OR TWO (2) OR MORE QUALIFIED WITNESSES, WHO MUST BOTH BE PRESENT WHEN YOU SIGN AND WHO WILL ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SIGNATURE ON THE DOCUMENT. THE FOLLOWING PERSONS MAY NOT ACT AS WITNESSES: -The person you have designated as your health care agent; -Your spouse or heir at law; -Your attending physician or APRN, or person acting under the direction or control of the -attending physician or APRN; ONLY ONE OF THE TWO WITNESSES MAY BE YOUR HEALTH OR RESIDENTIAL CARE PROVIDER OR ONE OF YOUR PROVIDER'S EMPLOYEES. DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE AND LIVING WILL (New Hampshire Revised Statutes § 137-J:20) NEW HAMPSHIRE ADVANCE DIRECTIVE NOTE: This form has two sections. You may complete both sections, or only one section. I. DURABLE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR HEALTH CARE I, ______________________________ , hereby appoint ______________________________ of ______________________________ (Please choose only one person. If you choose more than one agent, they will have authority in priority of the order their names are listed, unless you indicate another form of decision making.) as my agent to make any and all health care decisions for me, except to the extent I state otherwise in this directive or as prohibited by law. This durable power of attorney for health care shall take effect in the event I lack the capacity to make my own health care decisions. In the event the person I appoint above is unable, unwilling or unavailable, or ineligible to act as my health care agent, I hereby appoint ______________________________ of ______________________________ as alternate agent. (Please choose only one person. If you choose more than one alternate agent, they will have authority in priority of the order their names are listed.) STATEMENT OF DESIRES, SPECIAL PROVISIONS, AND LIMITATIONS REGARDING HEALTH CARE DECISIONS. For your convenience in expressing your wishes, some general statements concerning the withholding or removal of life-sustaining treatment are set forth below. (Life-sustaining treatment is defined as procedures without which a person would die, such as but not limited to the following: mechanical respiration, kidney dialysis or the use of other external mechanical and technological devices, drugs to maintain blood pressure, blood transfusions, and antibiotics.) There is also a section which allows you to set forth specific directions for these or other matters. If you wish, you may indicate your agreement or disagreement with any of the following statements and give your agent power to act in those specific circumstances. A. LIFE-SUSTAINING TREATMENT. 1. If I am near death and lack the capacity to make health care decisions, I authorize my agent to direct that: (Initial beside your choice of (a) or (b).) ___(a) life-sustaining treatment not be started, or if started, be discontinued. -or- ___(b) life-sustaining treatment continue to be given to me. 2. Whether near death or not, if I become permanently unconscious and life-sustaining treatment has no reasonable hope of benefit, I authorize my agent to direct that: (Initial beside your choice of (a) or (b).) ___a) life-sustaining treatment not be started, or if started, be discontinued. -or- ___(b) life-sustaining treatment continue to be given to me. ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS. Here you may include any specific desires or limitations you deem appropriate, such as your preferences concerning medically administered nutrition and hydration, when or what life- sustaining treatment you would want used or withheld, or instructions about refusing any specific types of treatment that are inconsistent with your religious beliefs or are unacceptable to you for any other reason. You may leave this question blank if you desire. ______________________________ (attach additional pages as necessary) I hereby acknowledge that I have been provided with a disclosure statement explaining the effect of this directive. I have read and understand the information contained in the disclosure statement. The original of this directive will be kept at ______________________________ and the following persons and institutions will have signed copies: ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ Signed this _______ day of ________________________ , 20 _______ Principal's Signature: _______________________ [If you are physically unable to sign, this directive may be signed by someone else writing your name, in your presence and at your express direction.] THIS POWER OF ATTORNEY DIRECTIVE MUST BE SIGNED BY TWO WITNESSES OR A NOTARY PUBLIC OR A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. We declare that the principal appears to be of sound mind and free from duress at the time the durable power of attorney for health care is signed and that the principal affirms that he or she is aware of the nature of the directive and is signing it freely and voluntarily. Witness: ________________________ Address: ______________________________ Witness: ________________________ Address: ______________________________ STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTY OF ______________________________ The foregoing durable power of attorney for health care was acknowledged before me this _______ day of ________________________ , 20 _______ , by ______________________________ (""the Principal''). _____________________ Notary Public/Justice of the Peace My commission expires: II. LIVING WILL Declaration made this _______ day of ________________________ , 20 _______ . I, ______________________________ , being of sound mind, willfully and voluntarily make known my desire that my dying shall not be artificially prolonged under the circumstances set forth below, do hereby declare: If at any time I should have an incurable injury, disease, or illness and I am certified to be near death or in a permanently unconscious condition by 2 physicians or a physician and an APRN, and 2 physicians or a physician and an APRN have determined that my death is imminent whether or not life-sustaining treatment is utilized and where the application of life- sustaining treatment would serve only to artificially prolong the dying process, or that I will remain in a permanently unconscious condition, I direct that such procedures be withheld or withdrawn, and that I be permitted to die naturally with only the administration of medication, the natural ingestion of food or fluids by eating and drinking, or the performance of any medical procedure deemed necessary to provide me with comfort care. I realize that situations could arise in which the only way to allow me to die would be to discontinue medically administered nutrition and hydration. (Initial below if it is your choice) In carrying out any instruction I have given under this section, I authorize that even if all other forms of life-sustaining treatment have been withdrawn, medically administered nutrition and hydration continue to be given to me. ________ In the absence of my ability to give directions regarding the use of such life-sustaining treatment, it is my intention that this declaration shall be honored by my family and health care providers as the final expression of my right to refuse medical or surgical treatment and accept the consequences of such refusal. I understand the full import of this declaration, and I am emotionally and mentally competent to make this declaration. Signed this _______ day of ________________________ , 20 _______ . Principal's Signature: ________________________ [If you are physically unable to sign, this directive may be signed by someone else writing your name, in your presence and at your express direction.] THIS LIVING WILL DIRECTIVE MUST BE SIGNED BY TWO WITNESSES OR A NOTARY PUBLIC OR A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE. We declare that the principal appears to be of sound mind and free from duress at the time the living will is signed and that the principal affirms that he or she is aware of the nature of the directive and is signing it freely and voluntarily. Witness: ________________________ Address: ______________________________ Witness: ________________________ Address: ______________________________ STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE COUNTY OF ________________________ The foregoing durable power of attorney for health care was acknowledged before me this _______ day of ________________________ , 20 _______ , by ______________________________ (""the Principal''). ___________________________ Notary Public/Justice of the Peace My commission expires: