What happens next
- Choose a health agent and an alternate who can be reached and are willing to speak up. Describe your priorities and talk with your clinician about the treatment choices you want to address.
- Review the Texas forms with counsel. For a medical power, follow the specific requirements for a notarized signature or two qualifying adult witnesses. Ask about any limits you want on your agent’s authority.
- Give current copies to your agent, alternate and regular care team. Ask for placement in the medical record and review older copies after any change to your preferences or contact details.
Timing and deadlines
Prepare the documents while you can understand and communicate the decision to sign. Under the Texas medical power, the agent acts once the attending physician certifies in writing that you lack competence to make your own healthcare decisions. An upcoming admission is a practical reason to locate copies now.
Costs and payment
Texas Health and Human Services makes the state forms available free of charge. Ask what the office charges for personal advice, drafting limits, coordinating signatures and reviewing older documents.
How to prepare
- Bring existing directives, names and phone numbers of prospective agents, and any treatment preferences you have already discussed with clinicians.
- Tell the office about documents signed elsewhere or any concern that a previously named agent is unavailable.
Questions and answers
Who makes decisions while I can still express my own choice?
You direct your care while you have decision-making capacity. Ask the care team to speak with you directly and record your current wishes. The agent’s authority under the medical power depends on the statutory incapacity determination.
Does a living will tell first responders to withhold CPR at home?
Texas has a separate out-of-hospital do-not-resuscitate order with its own medical and signing requirements. Discuss that order with your clinician if emergency resuscitation outside a healthcare facility is your concern.
My agent lives several hours away. How should I plan for an emergency?
Confirm the agent is willing and reachable, identify an alternate, and give the care team current phone numbers and documents. Discuss your wishes with both people in advance so your family knows whom clinicians should contact.
What if I change my mind about whom I named?
Texas law allows revocation of a medical power, including oral or written notice to the agent or a licensed or certified provider. Ask how to document the change, replace the designation if desired, update the medical record and notify anyone holding an old copy.
Can I give my agent instructions based on my religious beliefs?
Tell your chosen agent which treatments, values or consultations are especially important to you. Texas medical-power forms allow you to state limits. Discuss wording with counsel and ask a clinician to explain how it would apply in the situations you are concerned about.
Let’s talk about your next step.
You don’t have to figure it out alone. Talk with Angel’s office about your concerns, upcoming dates and how the team can help.