Add Tables To Legal New Mexico Healthcare Directive Forms For Free

Emergency Medical Services Advance Directives They allow you to tell doctors and those close to you what you wish to be done should you need life sustaining treatment. If you don't have an advance directive, doctors may use machines, such as respirators, to keep you alive. Please see NMAC 7.27.

In New Mexico, the statutory advance healthcare directive takes the place of a living will. Therefore, while you may have heard of living wills and you may have been told that you need one, in New Mexico only the advance healthcare directive is authorized by statute and required.

A New Mexico Medical Power of Attorney is a legal document that gives a person or entity the authority to make healthcare decisions on your behalf, such as accepting or refusing a specific medical treatment, if you cannot do so.

An AHCD does not need to be witnessed or notarized to be effective in New Mexico. You can change your directive any time. A copy is as good as an original. Your Advance Health Care Directive goes into effect when two health care professionals determine that you lack the capacity to make your own decisions.

What are advance directives? Advance directives are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes. The two most common advance directives for health care are the living will and the durable power of attorney for health care.

The POA must be signed in the presence of a notary public to be valid. New Mexico law does not require a POA to be witnessed, but witnesses may strengthen the validity of the document if it is challenged.