Make your health care wishes known
Create a New York health care directive with FindLaw’s attorney-created forms and easy step-by-step process.
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Make your health care wishes known so you stay in control of your treatment with a health care directive. Ensure comprehensive protection for you and your loved ones and secure your future with an estate planning forms package.
Health Care Directive
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The benefits of having a New York health care directive
A health care directive protects your autonomy. Also known as advance directives, these documents state your health care wishes and name a person to act in your place when you cannot. These documents prevent unwanted medical treatments and solidify the health care methods you desire, putting your fate in your hands.
FindLaw provides everything you need:
How it works
The process takes less than an hour, and you can complete it from the comfort of your home.
Create an account
Create a secure account which is accessible through an easy dashboard you can access any time
Gather information
Decide who will be your health care agent/proxy, which treatments you would request or refuse and release your records
Complete your document
Answer all questions, then we’ll generate your digital documents for downloading, printing, and signing
Make it legal
Print and sign your document according to instructions. Give copies to your doctors and agent/proxy
Plan for your future with confidence
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What’s next to make my New York health care directive valid?
Follow these steps:
If you want to, sign a do not resuscitate order
A do not resuscitate order is a legal document used for end-of-life planning. A terminal condition, severe car accident resulting in your being rendered unconscious, or a rapidly deteriorating medical condition may make you incapable of adequately expressing your wishes. By creating this document and planning ahead, you can relieve your family of the burden of making these tough decisions during a tragic time.
Decide what kind of care and treatment you will receive
An advance directive, also called a health care directive, directs family members and health care professionals regarding emergency medical care. Among the types of care and life decisions a health care directive covers are whether you want to receive:
- Feeding tubes
- Blood transfusions
- Moving into a long-term care facility
- Life-prolonging treatments
- The use of mechanical respiration
- The use of cardiac resuscitation
- The use of mouth resuscitation
- Palliative care
- Hospice care
Choose your health care agent
The health care agent, also known as a health care proxy, plays a vital role in advance care planning. Your health care decisions are made by this person based on what you have requested. The health care proxy form can be found on the NYS Department of Health website and allows you to name a primary and alternate agent.
Sign and notarize
Sign your health care directive in front of a witness and have it notarized.
New York health care directive commonly asked questions
“Advance care planning” refers to the process of stating your wishes in writing about end-of-life or life-sustaining care should you become incapable of making such decisions for yourself.
Every advance care plan should include a health care directive. If you become unable to communicate, this document directs health care professionals regarding the treatment you wish to receive.
State law does not require specific language before a health care directive is deemed valid in New York. New York state law, however, specifies who can create a legally valid health care directive and what wishes it may convey.
Any person 18 years of age or older may create a health care directive in New York. A health care directive specifies the health care agent must be another adult. The health care agent is the person you’ve chosen to carry out the wishes stated in your health care directive. Your health care directive must be:
- In writing
- Notarized
- Observed by a witness in New York state
Neither the notary nor the witness may be named as the health care agent.
Should you become incapacitated without a health care agent, the courts will appoint a surrogate to make medical decisions on your behalf under New York state law. Your wishes will be carried out by the surrogate if your wishes are known. If the surrogate is not aware of your desires, the decision will be based on what the surrogate believes is best for the patient. As a patient, what the surrogate believes is best for you medically and what you want to do might conflict. That is why it is best to express your desires before you become incapacitated.
Do-not-resuscitate orders (also called DNRs) are legal documents that confirm the patient does not wish to undergo cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or any other life-saving code and wishes to allow natural death to occur. DNRs are an integral part of advance care planning. With the help of this document, patient autonomy can be respected even if the patient cannot advocate for themselves.
New York state law requires medical facilities to follow the Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment statute (MOLST). Per MOLST, health care facilities must tell patients with severe medical conditions that they can refuse treatment if they choose. Patients who must be informed include:
- Those who want to avoid or would like to receive any or all life-sustaining treatment.
- Those who can reasonably be expected to die within one year.
It is wise for you to keep the original health care directive in a safe and easily accessible location like a lockbox or a safe deposit box. But make copies to share with your health care agent, your medical provider, and loved ones.
You may want to speak with a lawyer if:
- Your family disagrees with your medical choices
- You don’t know who to appoint as your agent
- You have questions about life prolonging measures
- You want legal review of your completed document
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