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Start the free role checkWhat advance directives are
Advance directives are documents you sign while you have capacity that let trusted people make decisions for you — financial and medical — if illness or injury later prevents you from deciding yourself. Without them, your family may have to ask a New York court for guardianship, which is slow, public, and costly.
The core New York documents
Statutory short form power of attorney (Gen. Oblig. Law §5-1513)
Authorizes an agent to handle your finances and property. A New York power of attorney is durable unless it says otherwise (Gen. Oblig. Law §5-1501A); it is signed and dated by you, acknowledged before a notary and witnessed by two people not named as agents, and it takes effect when an agent's signature is acknowledged — or on a date or event it names (Gen. Oblig. Law §5-1501B). So who you name, and what you grant, matters.
Health care proxy (Pub. Health Law §2981)
Names a health care agent to make health care decisions for you once your attending practitioner determines in writing that you lack capacity (Pub. Health Law §2983). It is signed and dated before two adult witnesses, and the agent may not be one of them (Pub. Health Law §2981).
Health care wishes, in the health care proxy (Pub. Health Law §2981)
New York has no separate living-will statute. You can state your wishes — including about life-sustaining treatment — in the health care proxy, and your agent decides in accordance with them; without reasonably known wishes about artificial nutrition and hydration, the agent cannot decide those (Pub. Health Law §2982).
The guardianship they help avoid & HIPAA authorization
Before appointing a guardian, a New York court considers the sufficiency and reliability of available resources — which include powers of attorney, health care proxies and trusts (Mental Hyg. Law §§81.02, 81.03); a HIPAA authorization lets named people receive your medical information. Often added to round out the set.
Why you need these even with a Trust
A revocable living Trust handles the assets inside it, but it does not make medical decisions, and it doesn't cover assets you never transferred in. Advance directives fill those gaps — and together with a will and a Trust, they keep decisions in the hands of people you chose, not a court.
Putting the set together in New York
Which directives you need, and how they're worded, depends on your situation, your family, and your wishes. This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check can show you where you stand, and a New York attorney can prepare directives that fit you.
General information about New York law, not legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
- What advance directives does New York recognize?
- A power of attorney for finances, usually in the statutory short form (Gen. Oblig. Law §5-1513), and a health care proxy naming an agent for medical decisions (Pub. Health Law §2981). New York has no separate living-will statute; your wishes reach your agent through the proxy (Pub. Health Law §2982).
- Is a New York power of attorney durable?
- Yes, unless it expressly says it ends on the principal's incapacity (Gen. Oblig. Law §5-1501A). It is signed and dated by the principal, acknowledged, and witnessed by two people not named as agents, and it takes effect as to an agent when that agent's signature is acknowledged — or on a date or event it names (Gen. Oblig. Law §5-1501B).
- When does a New York health care agent start making decisions?
- When the attending practitioner determines in writing, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the principal lacks capacity to make health care decisions (Pub. Health Law §2983). The agent then decides according to the principal's known wishes, or otherwise the principal's best interests (Pub. Health Law §2982).
General information about New York law, not legal advice.