Understanding Medical Power of Attorney in India

In India, a Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA) is a legal document that allows an individual to designate another person, known as an “agent” or “attorney-in-fact,” to make healthcare decisions on their behalf if they become incapacitated or unable to make decisions themselves. This document is crucial for ensuring that your medical treatment preferences are respected when you are not in a position to communicate them.

What is a Medical Power of Attorney?

A Medical Power of Attorney grants your agent the authority to make healthcare decisions for you in situations where you are unable to do so, such as during a serious illness, injury, or coma. The scope of decisions can range from choosing specific treatments, consenting to surgeries, and selecting healthcare facilities to make end-of-life care decisions.

The majority of people decide to make their medical POA durable. Suppose you have a durable medical power of attorney. In that case, it implies that in the event that you become incapacitated and are unable to express your wishes, your agent will still be able to act on your behalf. In the event that you are unable to speak for yourself, your agent will be empowered to make medical choices on your behalf. When drafting a medical power of attorney, it is advisable to be clear, as many courts consider such documents to be durable by default.

Depending on where you live, medical POAs might also be called:

• Power of attorney for healthcare
• Advance directive
• Advance healthcare directive
• Medical power of attorney directive

Why is a Medical Power of Attorney Important?

1. Ensures Your Wishes Are Respected: 

By appointing someone you trust as your agent, you can ensure that your healthcare preferences are followed, even if you cannot communicate them yourself.

2. Reduces Family Stress: 

In the absence of clear directives, family members may struggle with difficult decisions regarding their medical care. An MPOA reduces this burden by providing clear guidance on who should make these decisions.

3. Legal Validity: 

Having a legally recognised document ensures that medical professionals and institutions must adhere to the decisions made by your appointed agent, provided they are in line with your expressed wishes and the law.

Advantages of Having a Medical Power of Attorney

A Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA) is a vital legal document that offers numerous advantages by ensuring that your healthcare decisions are respected when you are unable to communicate them. Here are some key benefits of having an MPOA:

1. Ensures Your Healthcare Preferences Are Honored

• An MPOA allows you to specify your healthcare preferences and appoint someone you trust to make decisions on your behalf. This ensures that your wishes are followed, even if you cannot express them yourself due to incapacitation.

2. Provides Peace of Mind

• Knowing that your healthcare decisions will be handled by someone who understands your values and desires provides peace of mind. This is particularly important in situations involving serious illness or end-of-life care.

3. Reduces Family Conflict

• In the absence of clear instructions, family members may have differing opinions on your medical care, leading to disputes. An MPOA designates a single decision-maker, reducing the likelihood of conflict among loved ones.

4. Avoids Unwanted Medical Treatments

• With an MPOA, you can specify treatments you do or do not want. This helps prevent unwanted procedures or interventions, ensuring that your medical care aligns with your personal beliefs and preferences.

5. Facilitates Timely Decision-Making

• During medical emergencies, decisions often need to be made quickly. An MPOA ensures that a trusted individual can make those decisions promptly, without delays caused by legal or familial disputes.

6. Legally Recognised Authority

• An MPOA is a legally binding document, meaning that medical professionals are required to follow the decisions made by your appointed agent. This legal recognition ensures that your agent’s decisions are respected by healthcare providers.

7. Customisable to Your Needs

• You can tailor your MPOA to suit your specific needs and preferences. For example, you can limit the agent’s authority to certain situations or provide them with comprehensive decision-making power across all medical scenarios.

8. Prevents Court Intervention

• Without an MPOA, your family may need to seek court intervention to make medical decisions on your behalf. This can be time-consuming, stressful, and costly. An MPOA avoids this by clearly designating an agent to act on your behalf.

9. Empowers You to Choose Your Advocate

• With an MPOA, you have the power to choose who will advocate for you during medical situations. You can select someone who understands your beliefs, values, and healthcare preferences, ensuring that your best interests are always prioritised.

10. Ease of Updates and Changes

• Life circumstances change, and so can your preferences. An MPOA can be easily updated or revoked as needed, allowing you to adjust your healthcare directives based on new situations, relationships, or medical advancements.

What is the effective date of your medical POA?

Once you become incapacitated, a durable medical POA becomes operative. This might apply if you:

• When sedated with general anaesthesia
• Had a medical condition that prevented you from speaking, such as a stroke
• Experienced an injury that rendered you unconscious or in a coma
• Had Alzheimer’s disease or another type of dementia that interferes with your capacity for reasoned decision-making

What makes a medical power of attorney necessary?

Making a medical POA ahead of time is a smart idea for a variety of reasons. The following are the main arguments you should think about:

1. To create peace of mind

Your loved ones may need to step in and make decisions for you if you ever become too sick or injured to manage your own care. In the absence of a medical POA, this usually necessitates a judicial process, which can be expensive and time-consuming. Additionally, it could be stressful for your loved ones to try to figure out what kind of care you want during an already difficult time. You and your loved ones can have peace of mind if you designate a reliable someone to serve as your healthcare agent before you truly need one.

2. To prepare for a major medical procedure

Since you are unable to give consent while under anaesthesia if you are considering surgery, you might want to designate a healthcare agent to make medical decisions on your behalf. Once you’re better, you can cancel the power of attorney if you’d want.

3. To address concerns after being diagnosed with a degenerative disease

You will eventually be unable to grasp medical treatment or give consent if you have Alzheimer’s, cancer, ALS, or Huntington’s disease. Once you’ve been diagnosed, you might want to draft a medical power of attorney so that you can express your wishes for your treatment while you’re still feeling well.

How can your healthcare representative help?

It is legally obligatory of your healthcare agent to operate in your best interest. You decide how much control they have over your medical treatment. You have the option to draft your POA such that your healthcare agent is able to make all decisions regarding your medical care. Alternatively, you can set time limits and restrictions on the authority of your agent.

You can give your healthcare agent the following discretion if you’d like:

• What medical care you get, such as surgery, prescription drugs, medical procedures, and at-home care
• The medical establishments you visit for treatment
• The physicians and other healthcare professionals who manage your treatment
• Where you reside, whether it’s in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or residential long-term care
• Who takes care of your basic requirements, like eating and taking a shower

Difference between Medical Power of Attorney and Other Wills

Guardianship vs. Medical Power of Attorney

If you ever lose the ability to make decisions for yourself, a medical power of attorney lets you arrange for your future medical care. A guardian, on the other hand, is the person who has the legal authority to make sure all of your needs—from emotional stability to medical attention—are satisfied. As an adult, a guardian would only become necessary if you were incapacitated and lacked a medical POA. Should this occur, the court can intervene and choose a guardian on your behalf.

Living Wills vs. Medical Power of Attorneys

If you are unable to express your end-of-life healthcare wishes, you can record them legally with a living will. This covers any medical procedures and prescription drugs you are willing to (or not) take.

Conversely, a medical power of attorney is a legal document that enables you to choose a healthcare representative to make decisions regarding your medical treatment on your behalf.

These two agreements can coexist: in the event that you have both a living will and a medical POA, your healthcare agent’s choices must be in accordance with the terms of your living will. An advance healthcare directive is a single document that combines a living will and a medical POA.

Medical Power of Attorney vs. Financial Power of Attorney

Giving someone legal permission to handle financial choices in your absence is possible with a financial power of attorney. This can involve paying bills, handling money, and fighting legal action.

However, a medical power of attorney restricts the decisions your agent can make to your medical matters.

How to Create a Medical Power of Attorney in India

1. Choose the person you wish to act as your healthcare agent: 

With so much power, your agent should be someone you can rely on to look out for your best interests. It is advisable to have a conversation with this individual in advance to confirm their willingness to serve as your agent.

2. Drafting the Document: 

The MPOA document should clearly outline the scope of the agent’s powers. This can include general authority over all healthcare decisions or be limited to specific situations. The document should also specify any treatments you wish to avoid.

3. Obtain a document for a medical power of attorney: 

Although the majority of states offer free blank POA forms, it’s not always simple to add specific preferences or modify them. Additionally, you can make a living will that incorporates a healthcare power of attorney by using free online software.

4. Fill out the form, sign it in front of a witness, and adhere to your state’s legal requirements: 

You must have your POA paperwork notarised in the majority of states. Certain states further demand the signature of your agent or more witnesses.

5. Your agent and any interested parties, such as your doctor’s office, should receive a copy of your medical POA form: 

Before your agent is permitted to make any decisions regarding your healthcare, they must present the form as evidence of their authority.

6. Together with your other estate planning documents, save your medical POA form in a secure location: 

This might be at the office of a reliable lawyer, in a safe deposit box, or in a fireproof safe inside your house.

7. Legal Formalities: 

The MPOA should be drafted with the assistance of a legal professional to ensure it meets all legal requirements. Once drafted, it must be signed by you, your agent, and witnesses. In some cases, it may also need to be notarised.

8. Review and Update Regularly: 

It is advisable to review your MPOA periodically or when significant life changes occur (e.g., marriage, divorce, or a change in health status). Ensure your agent is still the best person for the role and update the document if necessary.

How to Cancel a Medical Power of Attorney?

If you are deemed mentally competent, you may withdraw or rescind your medical power of attorney at any moment. You can fill out a revocation of power of attorney form and have it witnessed and notarised in order to revoke your medical POA. By signing this form, you are letting your selected agent know that you no longer want them to be your medical POA. Additionally, you have the option to modify the duties of your current agent or create a new medical POA agreement with a new healthcare agent named.

You should give written notice to your original healthcare agent that you are rescinding their power of attorney as soon as you have created any of these forms. Additionally, you should notify any third parties—such as your doctor’s office—that have your power of attorney on file of the revocation.

Legal Requirements and Limitations

While a Medical Power of Attorney is a powerful tool, it is important to understand its limitations. The agent’s authority is activated only when the principal (the person granting the MPOA) is incapacitated. Additionally, the agent must act in the principal’s best interest and according to their known wishes. In cases where the principal’s wishes are unknown, the agent should make decisions based on what they believe the principal would have wanted.

Common Misconceptions

• MPOA vs. Living Will: 

A Medical Power of Attorney is often confused with a Living Will. While both documents pertain to healthcare decisions, a Living Will specifically outlines the treatments a person wants or does not want in certain situations, whereas an MPOA designates someone to make those decisions.

• MPOA vs. General Power of Attorney: 

A General Power of Attorney grants broader powers to the agent, including financial decisions, but does not typically cover medical decisions. An MPOA is specifically tailored for healthcare-related decisions.

Format for Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA)

THIS MEDICAL POWER OF ATTORNEY is made on this [Date] day of [Month], [Year].

BY

[Full Name of the Principal],
S/o or D/o [Father’s or Mother’s Name],
Resident of [Full Address],
(hereinafter referred to as the “Principal”).

IN FAVOUR OF

[Full Name of the Agent],
S/o or D/o [Father’s or Mother’s Name],
Resident of [Full Address],
(hereinafter referred to as the “Agent”).

WHEREAS:

1. The Principal is of sound mind and legally competent to execute this Medical Power of Attorney.
2. The Principal desires to appoint the Agent to make healthcare decisions on their behalf in the event that the Principal is incapacitated and unable to make such decisions.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Principal hereby appoints the Agent as their lawful attorney-in-fact to make medical decisions on their behalf as follows:

1. Scope of Authority

The Agent shall have the full power and authority to make all healthcare decisions for the Principal, including but not limited to:

• Consenting to or refusing medical treatments.
• Selecting and discharging healthcare providers and institutions.
• Approving or denying diagnostic tests, surgical procedures, and other treatments.
• Making decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments.
• Accessing the Principal’s medical records and disclosing them to appropriate parties.

2. Effective Date

This Medical Power of Attorney shall become effective only upon the Principal’s incapacitation, as determined by a qualified medical professional.

3. Duration

This Power of Attorney shall remain in effect until revoked by the Principal or upon the Principal’s death.

4. Revocation

The Principal may revoke this Medical Power of Attorney at any time by providing written notice to the Agent and any relevant healthcare providers. Such revocation shall be effective upon receipt.

5. Agent’s Duties

The Agent is legally obligated to act in the best interest of the Principal and to make decisions in accordance with the Principal’s known wishes or, if such wishes are unknown, in a manner consistent with the Principal’s best interest.

6. Alternative Agent (Optional)

In the event that the Agent is unable or unwilling to act, the Principal hereby appoints [Full Name of Alternate Agent],
Resident of [Full Address],
as an alternative Agent with the same powers and responsibilities.

7. Witnesses

This Medical Power of Attorney is executed in the presence of the following witnesses, who attest that the Principal is of sound mind and is acting voluntarily, without duress or undue influence.

Witness 1:

Name:
Address:
Signature:

Witness 2:

Name:
Address:
Signature:

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Principal and Agent have executed this Medical Power of Attorney on the day and year first above written.

Principal’s Signature:
[Full Name of the Principal]
[Signature]

Agent’s Signature:
[Full Name of the Agent]
[Signature]

Notarisation (If Required)
(Notary’s Seal and Signature)

_________________________________________________________________________

Download Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA) Format in Word & PDF

Free Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA) Template in Word Format

Free Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA) Template in PDF Format

Conclusion

A Medical Power of Attorney is an essential document for anyone who wishes to have a say in their healthcare even when they are not able to communicate their wishes. By appointing a trusted agent and ensuring that your MPOA is legally sound, you can have peace of mind knowing that your healthcare decisions will be handled according to your preferences.

As with all legal documents, it is advisable to consult with a legal professional when drafting an MPOA to ensure that it is comprehensive, legally valid, and reflective of your true wishes.

Frequently Asked Questions on Medical Power of Attorney in India

Q1. What is a Medical Power of Attorney in India?

Ans1. A Medical Power of Attorney (MPOA) in India is a legal document that allows an individual to designate someone to make healthcare decisions on their behalf if they become incapacitated or unable to make decisions themselves.

Q2. How does a Medical Power of Attorney work in India?

Ans2. A Medical Power of Attorney works by granting the designated agent the authority to make healthcare decisions for the principal when the principal is unable to communicate their wishes due to illness, injury, or other incapacities.

Q3. Why is having a Medical Power of Attorney important?

Ans3. Having a Medical Power of Attorney is important because it ensures your healthcare preferences are respected, reduces family stress, and provides legal validity to your healthcare decisions when you cannot make them yourself.

Q4. What decisions can an agent make under a Medical Power of Attorney?

Ans4. An agent under a Medical Power of Attorney can make decisions related to medical treatments, surgeries, healthcare facility choices, and end-of-life care, depending on the scope outlined in the MPOA document.

Q5. Can I specify my medical treatment preferences in a Medical Power of Attorney?

Ans5. Yes, you can specify your medical treatment preferences in a Medical Power of Attorney. This helps ensure that your healthcare aligns with your personal beliefs and values even when you cannot communicate them.

Q6. What is the difference between a Medical Power of Attorney and a Living Will?

Ans6. A Medical Power of Attorney designates someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf, whereas a Living Will specifically outlines the treatments you want or do not want in certain situations.

Q7. How do I create a Medical Power of Attorney in India?

Ans7. To create a Medical Power of Attorney in India, choose a trusted agent, draft the document with legal assistance, sign it in front of witnesses, and have it notarised if required. Ensure that the document is legally valid and reflective of your wishes.

Q8. Can I cancel or change my Medical Power of Attorney?

Ans8. Yes, you can cancel or change your Medical Power of Attorney at any time if you are mentally competent. This can be done by filling out a revocation form or drafting a new MPOA document.

Q9. What happens if I don’t have a Medical Power of Attorney?

Ans9. Suppose you don’t have a Medical Power of Attorney. In that case, your family may need to seek court intervention to make medical decisions on your behalf, which can be time-consuming, stressful, and costly.

Q10. Is a Medical Power of Attorney legally binding in India?

Ans10. Yes, a Medical Power of Attorney is legally binding in India, provided it is drafted correctly, signed by all necessary parties, and meets the legal requirements set by the state.