Texas Health Care Directive

Use a Texas Health Care Directive to express your health care wishes and appoint a person to make medical decisions for you if, someday, you cannot speak for yourself. This form includes a Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent and a Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates. (Texas Health & Safety Codes §166.164 and §166.033.)

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Use a Texas Health Care Directive to express your health care wishes and appoint a person to make medical decisions for you if, someday, you cannot speak for yourself. This form includes a Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent and a Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates. (Texas Health & Safety Codes §166.164 and §166.033.)

Scroll Down for Additional details about this form.

You can save and edit the form before you buy--just create a Nolo.com account. It's easy, free, and there's no obligation to buy anything. If you purchase the form, you'll be able to print, download, and create new documents during the length of your one-year subscription.

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  • Make your health care wishes known!

    It’s vitally important that those close to you understand the kind of medical treatment you would—or would not—want if you were unable to speak for yourself. You can use this Texas Health Care Directive to describe your health care wishes and to name a trusted person to oversee them. The person you name can also make other necessary health care decisions for you if you are too ill or injured to direct your own care. In addition, this form provides a document for revoking your health care directive and a letter for your agent, which describes the agent’s duties.

    As you make this form, you will be asked about:

    Your Agent

    • Who should be your health care agent?
    • Who should be your alternate agent and second alternate agent?

    Your Agent's Authority

    Do you want to limit the scope of your agent's authority? Specifically, do you want your agent have the authority to direct the withdrawal or withholding of life-prolonging procedures?  Do you want to put any other limits on your agent’s authority?  As you go through the program, we will help you understand these terms and how your choices will affect your agent’s ability to make decisions on your behalf.

    Your Health Care Wishes

    What kind of care do you want to receive if you cannot speak for yourself? Specifically,

    • In certain dire situations, do you want your life to be prolonged?
    • Do you want to state anything else about the location of your care, palliative care, your personal or religious values, or anything else?
    • Do you want to donate your organs or other body parts?

    This form is intended for use by people who expect to receive medical care in Texas. It aligns with the Texas statutory forms Medical Power of Attorney Designation of Health Care Agent  (Texas Health & Safety Code §166.164) and  Directive to Physicians and Family or Surrogates. (Texas Health & Safety Codes §166.033.) It complies with Texas law and will be familiar to health care practitioners in Texas. Do not use this form unless you expect to receive health care in Texas.

    For more about this form, read Nolo’s Texas Health Care Directive FAQ

    For more about health care directives (including living wills, powers of attorney for health care, DNRs, and POLST forms), see Living Wills & Medical Powers of Attorney on Nolo.com.