Power of Attorney and Health Care – General – Utah

(1)

(a) A person 18 years of age or older who is in a terminal condition may, by a directive made under this section, direct that emergency medical service providers licensed or certified under Title 26, Chapter 8a, who respond to a call to provide to that person emergency medical services as defined in Section 26-8a-102, withhold all life sustaining procedures.

(b) The directive is binding upon emergency medical services providers only if the person issuing the directive is in compliance with the system developed under Subsection (2).

(2)

(a) The Department of Health shall by rule establish a uniform system to allow emergency medical service providers to readily identify persons who have made a directive under this section.

(b) The system may provide for personal, tamper-proof identifying bracelets or other means necessary to assure identification of persons who have made a directive under this section.

(3) An emergency medical services provider is not bound to act in accordance with a directive issued under this section unless the person executing the directive complies with Department of Health rules made under this section, such as the wearing of an identifying bracelet, to clearly express to emergency medical service providers the continued intent to be readily identified as a person who has made a directive under this section.

(4) A directive made under this section shall be:

(a) in writing and on a form approved by the Department of Health;

(b) signed by the declarant or by another person in the declarant’s presence and by the declarant’s expressed direction, or if the declarant does not have the ability to give current directions concerning his care and treatment, by the following persons, as proxy, in the following order of priority if no person in a prior class is available, willing, and competent to act:

(i) an attorney-in-fact appointed as provided in Section 75-2-1106, but authorized to act under this section;

(ii) any previously appointed legal guardian of the declarant;

(iii) the person’s spouse if not legally separated;

(iv) the parents or surviving parent;

(v) the person’s child 18 years of age or older, or if the person has more than one child, by a majority of the children 18 years of age or older who are reasonably available for consultation upon good faith efforts to secure participation of all those children;

(vi) by the declarant’s nearest reasonably available living relative 18 years of age or older if the declarant has no parent or child living; or

(vii) by a legal guardian appointed for the purposes of this section;

(c) dated;

(d) signed, completed, and certified by the declarant’s attending physician; and

(e) signed pursuant to Subsection (4)(b) above in the presence of two or more witnesses who are 18 years of age or older.

(5) Neither of the witnesses may be:

(a) the person who signed the directive on behalf of the declarant;

(b) related to the declarant by blood or marriage;

(c) entitled to any portion of the declarant’s estate according to the laws of intestate succession of this state or under any will or codicil of the declarant;

(d) directly financially responsible for the declarant’s medical care; or

(e) an agent of any health care facility in which the declarant is a patient or resident at the time of executing the directive.

(6) A directive made under this section takes precedence over a directive made pursuant to Section 75-2-1104.

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