Default Health-Care Surrogate Priority in Georgia
At a glance
| When the default route opens | Personally examining physician records inability to understand/make or communicate significant treatment decisions (§ 31-9-2(c)). |
|---|---|
| Care or setting covered | Lawful surgical or medical treatment/procedures suggested or directed by a licensed physician (§ 31-9-2(a)). |
| Guardian or appointed agent | Authorized advance-directive/health-POA agent before spouse; guardian may consent for ward; family fallback follows (§ 31-9-2(a)(1.1),(2),(4),(6)). |
| Family and partner order | Spouse; then adult child → parent → adult sibling → grandparent → adult grandchild → specified adult niece/nephew/aunt/uncle (§ 31-9-2(a)). |
| Friend or other nonfamily person | Adult friend after listed classes; signed, dated facility acknowledgment of care, familiarity, willingness, and best-interest role (§ 31-9-2(a)(7)). |
| Decision within one class | “Any one” authorized person may consent; § 31-9-2(a)(6) lists ranks but states no class vote. |
| Who is available and eligible | Agent and spouse must be absent or unavailable before lower routes; physician documents inability; reasonable inquiry precedes guardian petition (§ 31-9-2(a),(a.1),(c)). |
| Decisions limited or excluded | Consent only to lawful physician-suggested treatment; act in good faith as patient would want; temporary guardian needs court authority to withdraw life support (§§ 31-9-2(a)–(b), 29-4-18(i)). |
| No surrogate or disputed authority | If no authorized person after reasonable inquiry, facility or interested person may seek expedited temporary medical consent guardian (§§ 31-9-2(a.1), 29-4-18(b)). |
Requirements one by one
When the default route opens
O.C.G.A. § 31-9-2(c) defines an adult's inability to consent by a licensed physician's personal examination and medical-record finding that the adult lacks sufficient understanding or capacity for significant treatment decisions or cannot communicate them by any means. Subsection (a)(1.1) recognizes an authorized advance-directive or health care power-of-attorney decision maker before the spouse route.
Care or setting covered
Section 31-9-2(a) authorizes consent to lawful surgical or medical treatment or procedures suggested, recommended, prescribed, or directed by a duly licensed physician. The adult-friend provision asks for a facility record, but the consent grant itself is framed around the treatment rather than one facility type.
Guardian or appointed agent
Section 31-9-2(a)(2) lets a spouse act when the appointed person is absent or unavailable; subsection (a)(4) independently authorizes a guardian for a ward. Subsection (a)(6) opens its ranked family list only in the absence of the previously listed decision makers. The statute does not specify a contest rule between an available spouse and guardian.
Family and partner order
The ranked list under § 31-9-2(a)(6) is adult child, parent, adult sibling, grandparent, adult grandchild, then an adult niece, nephew, aunt, or uncle meeting the listed relationship. The opening words “any one” in § 31-9-2(a) authorize an individual in a qualifying category to consent; the provision does not set a majority vote for several adult children or siblings.
Friend or other nonfamily person
Section 31-9-2(a)(7) reaches an adult friend only after the agent, spouse, guardian, and listed family routes are absent. The friend must have shown special care and concern, know the patient's health care views, be willing and able to participate, and sign and date the facility acknowledgment placed in the record.
Decisions limited or excluded
Section 31-9-2(b) requires the consenting person to act in good faith toward the treatment the patient would have wanted. The consent grant in subsection (a) covers only procedures not prohibited by law. When the expedited guardian route is used, § 29-4-18(i) withholds authority to withdraw life-sustaining procedures unless the court specifically grants it.
No surrogate or disputed authority
Under § 31-9-2(a.1) and § 29-4-18(b), a facility or interested person may seek an expedited temporary medical consent guardian after reasonable inquiry finds no authorized and willing person. Section 29-4-18(j) ends that temporary authority on removal, permanent guardianship, the relevant hospitalization or continuous facility stay, or sixty days, whichever arrives first.
What trips people up
An adult friend is a final listed route, not a substitute for an available family member. The signed acknowledgment under § 31-9-2(a)(7) is a statutory condition for that friend's role. The 2025 code-revision amendment in S.B. 153 § 31(36) changed only two introductory phrases in this section, not its priority classes.
Common questions
Does a family member need a formal appointment first? Section 31-9-2(a) directly authorizes a qualifying listed person to consent to covered treatment; the separate § 29-4-18 petition is for the no-authorized-person fallback.
Can a friend decide without explaining the relationship? Section 31-9-2(a)(7) requires the friend to certify the statutory criteria in a signed, dated acknowledgment for the facility record.
Statutes and sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 31-9-2 and 29-4-18; Ga. L. 2025 S.B. 153 § 31(36). Verbatim official text, source links, and access dates appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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