Default Health-Care Surrogate Priority in Oklahoma
At a glance
| When the default route opens | Adult is persistently unconscious, incompetent, or otherwise mentally or physically unable to communicate; decision maker must be reasonably available and willing (§ 3102.4(A)). |
|---|---|
| Care or setting covered | Health-care decisions for the qualifying patient; § 3102.4 does not limit the route to a named facility (§ 3102.4(A)). |
| Guardian or appointed agent | Authorized general or limited guardian; designated health-care proxy or alternate; authorized Health Care Agent Act attorney-in-fact (§ 3102.4(A)(1)–(3)). |
| Family and partner order | Spouse; adult children; parents; adult siblings; other adult relatives in order of kinship (§ 3102.4(A)(4)–(8)). |
| Friend or other nonfamily person | Close friends with regular contact sufficient to know the patient's values rank last; a fact-specific affidavit is prima facie evidence (§ 3102.4(A)(9)). |
| Decision within one class | If people within one class disagree, its majority may decide (§ 3102.4(A)). |
| Who is available and eligible | Reasonably available and willing; abuse or exploitation history specified in § 3102.5 disqualifies; decision maker supplies a signed eligibility statement (§§ 3102.4(A)–(B), 3102.5(A)). |
| Decisions limited or excluded | Apply the patient's known intentions, views, and best interests using the § 3101.16 standard; sufficient evidence of the patient's wishes controls (§§ 3102.4(A), 3101.16). |
| No surrogate or disputed authority | Provider or listed class member may seek a guardianship-court order changing a decision or assigning supervening authority on the specified showing (§ 3102.4(A)). |
Requirements one by one
When the order applies
Section 3102.4(A) opens the route when an adult is persistently unconscious, incompetent, or otherwise mentally or physically unable to communicate. The person who acts must be reasonably available and willing. The statute names no particular hospital or other facility as a condition for this order.
Priority and disagreements
The first three positions belong to an authorized general or limited guardian, a patient-designated health-care proxy or alternate, and an attorney-in-fact with health-care authority under the Health Care Agent Act. Section 3102.4(A)(4)–(9) then ranks the spouse, adult children, parents, adult siblings, adult relatives by kinship, and qualifying close friends. A close friend's affidavit describing the contact is prima facie evidence of the friendship. If people in one class disagree, a majority of that class may decide.
Eligibility and decision standard
Before deciding, a person supplies the signed statement required by § 3102.4(B). Section 3102.5(A) excludes people with its specified convictions, final abuse or exploitation findings, or unresolved charges under § 3102.5(A). The decision must use the standard in § 3101.16: sufficient evidence of the patient's wishes controls; otherwise the decision maker judges the patient's values and likely wishes.
What trips people up
The provider or a member of a listed class may petition the court under § 3102.4(A). The court may direct a different decision for breach of the statutory standard or give another listed member supervening authority on clear and convincing evidence. The same subsection supplies a temporary treatment order when the specified life-threatening denial is at issue.
The enacted 2026 act repeals §§ 3102.4 and 3102.5 and starts a new default-surrogate scheme on July 1, 2027. Its §§ 12, 33, and 35 add a prior informal designation, a cohabitant, and other classes, place an adult child and parent at the same rank, and set the effective date. The present order remains the rule until then.
Common questions
Can a close friend decide? Yes, in the last class of § 3102.4(A)(9), if the friend has regular contact sufficient to know the patient's personal values. The statute gives a fact-specific affidavit evidentiary weight.
Can one relative outvote another? When people within the same listed class disagree, § 3102.4(A) permits a majority of that class to decide. It does not describe a vote across classes.
Statutes and sources
Verbatim official excerpts, section URLs, and access dates are in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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